Collision of Worlds
by PaladinDelta
Summary: It's been over 500 years since Humanity defeated the Chimera and have now spread out across the stars. Now they're up against new foes threatening their existence. Allied with the old enemy, can they together face off these forces of oppression and make their mark in the universe?.
1. Timeline

**(** Author's note: _I do not own the Star Wars and Resistance franchise, they both belong to their respective owners of Disney and Insomniac Games, you know all that jazz_ **)**

 **Timeline**

 **65 million years ago** \- An unknown race only known as 'The Grays' fight a long and bloody war against the ancient Chimera. The war results in the Chimera losing all worlds, including Earth, under their empire until they are driven back to their homeworld where they engage in a last stand against the Grays. Despite putting up fierce resistance, the Chimera are brutally put down to near extinction with only a small amount of survivors left that the Grays take away and put into cryogenic storage. The Chimera's homeworld is placed under quarantine.

 **200,000 BCE** \- For reasons unknown, the Grays vanish and leave behind their tech on various worlds. Before their mysterious disappearance, the Grays had wiped the minds of all the Chimera they had taken after the war and settled them back on their homeworld in a pre-technological state.

 **100,000 BCE** \- The Chimera unify under one empire and begin to slowly spread out across the stars again, unknowingly re-settling some of the old worlds that once belonged to their ancestors. On a few worlds colonised by the Chimera, they find ruins of the once proud Grays civilisation. Amongst them are vast amounts of technologies that improve Chimeran society by centuries, including faster FTL travel, terraforming and locations to many other former Gray territories.

 **50,000 BCE** \- The Chimeran Empire holds a considerable portion of the galaxy under it's banner with over 2000 colonised worlds and dozens of 'Guardian systems', which observe and protect pre-civilised worlds. It is at the point that the Chimeran Empress at the time halts further expansion into the galaxy.

 **48 BCE** \- Some of the Guardian system's species start to develop space travel and this causes much debate within the empire on what to do next. Many believe they should offer the new spacefaring species client race status, while a more aggressive faction believe they should subjugate them. The debates starts to get intense with the empire starting to show signs of division for the first time since it's formation. Then to top it off, one the races from the Guardian systems' makes contact with a Chimeran outpost. Both species begin to open dialogue on the outpost, when an Imperial warship enters the atmosphere over the location of the talks.

The rogue ship opens fire on the delegates, it's opening salvo killing most of the diplomats on both sides. Hours after the incident occurs, a rogue faction calling themselves the Pure Chimera broadcast all across Chimeran space claiming responsibility. They speak of how their species are the master race of the stars and all other species were seen as nothing more than slaves and to make matters worse following the attack months later, several worlds experience many acts of terrorism and dozens of systems declare their independence. The newly independent systems form the Chimeran Hegemony, showing evident signs of the Pure Chimera's work in the split of allegiance.

To counter the growing threat from the Pure Chimera and their new illegal state, the Emperor declares a state of emergency and rallies the Chimeran people to fight and help free their brothers and sisters trapped by their oppression by the Purists. This instigates what is later called the Imperial-Purist War. A year into the conflict begins with success going the Imperials way. Having liberated many of the occupied worlds under the Hegemony's control, the war looked to be all but won until out of nowhere Purist forces unleashed a horde of reinforcements. This shocks Imperial forces both from how the Purists were able to get such numbers quickly and the ferocity of the attacks by creatures that appear to be deformed or mutated Chimera.

With their new strength the Hegemony forces push back the Imperials and go on the offensive, managing to re-occupy worlds taken by their counterparts and even take systems loyal to the Empire. The war stretches into a fourth year with it grinding into a stalemate between the two sides, with the Imperials facing new horrors and monstrosities the Purists unleash on their forces in every engagement. In an unexpected turn of events in the war, an alien ship arrives in an Imperial controlled system and is immediately seized by Loyalist forces. When the ship is brought planetside, they find one primate looking being onboard and bring her before the commander in charge of the planet's defence. After managing to translate her language and continuous questioning, the mysterious being introduced herself as Master Alana Kurica of the Jedi Order. She also explains she came from a place called the Galactic Republic and she had put herself into self-exile after several clashes with the Jedi Council over the new code they had set for the Jedi to follow.

She is soon transported to the Imperial capital of Secaria and brought before the Emperor and the Imperial High Council, where she demonstrates her abilities in front of an amazed audience claiming that it thanks to a ability called the Force. To her own shock she senses the Chimera are completely void in the force, shaking some of her beliefs to the core. Days after her arrival, a team of Purist commandos attempt to kidnap Kurica but are thwarted when she proves to be stronger than they anticipated. The Imperials make Master Kurica an offer of joining their forces and strike back against the Purists, much to the hesitancy of Kurica who wishes to live out the rest of her life without more conflict. She reluctantly agrees after a few more days of deciding, in exchange she'll be set free after the conflict.

The Imperials happily agree and give her the rank of Commander in their army after she props up her experience in war. In something that exceeded the Imperials expectations of the Jedi, Master Kurica leadership and fighting skills astound them. She quickly earns the respect and trust of the troops she commands, becoming a symbol of admiration amongst many Imperial soldiers quickly rising to the rank of General. This proves to be a pivotal turning point in the war which sees the Purists lose ground and pushed back all the way to their last remaining strongholds, with Master Kurica leading the attack. The battle ends in the Purists surrendering, ending the war but not all lay down their arms as a small group manages to escape. While the Empire celebrates the Purist defeat, research is done to find out how and where the Purists had found the numbers they managed to produce and come up wit a horrifying discovery.

The Purists had enslaved all but one the Guardian Systems and infected the races with a mutagen called the 'Transformation Virus'.

Sending ships to the last surviving Guardian System the Imperial Chimera find the Chamaele, a large reptilian-like species, holding out against Purist remnant forces. After helping the young race out in eradicating the abominations, they offer to help rebuild and place the Chamaele under protectorate status to which the grateful younger race accept.

Upon giving Alana Kurica her freedom as part of the agreement with the Imperial Council, the Jedi Master requests if she may settle into the Empire as she had taken a liking to their culture. The Council gladly grant it and learn more about the Republic and Jedi Order from their new citizen, coming to the decision to remain isolated and to not get involve with such an unstable government. Alana Kurica retires to a less populated colony to avoid the fame she had won from her exploits during the war.

 **1908 CE** \- The Tunguska Event- The renegade Pure Chimera send the Transformation Virus to Earth in the disguise of an asteroid crashing in Siberia, Russia.

 **1914-1918** \- World War One begins in August of 1914 with the Anglo-French invasion of German Togoland. The war is fought between the central powers Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against the Triple Entente allies of Britain, France and Russia. It's during this conflict that Russia suffers troubles both from the war and at home, by crushing the Russian Revolution. The Russians surrender to Germany in early 1918, handing over several territories in eastern Europe and turn their attention quickly to the growing unrest back home. The war ends in October 1918 with the allies forcing Germany to sign a ceasefire.

 **1919** \- The signing of the Treaty of Versailles makes way for the formation of the European Trade Organisation (ETO), in an effort to encourage European nations to co-operate better

 **1921** \- Russia cuts off communication with the outside world, to prevent infiltration and anti-imperialistic propaganda from getting within it's borders. The Tsar orders for the country's borders to be sealed. The Russians begin building the 'Red Curtain', a massive fortified military wall that will seal the border between the Russian Empire and the rest of Europe.

 **1927** \- With enough resources and soldiers through the T virus, the newly created Chimera launch an all out assault against Russia. The Russian military put up a fierce and desperate attempt to hold off the Chimeran forces but are soundly defeated in every engagement. With Russian forces being pushed back, a doctor by the name of Fyodor Malikov develops an experimental vaccine to combat against the Chimeran virus and begins to distribute it to all remaining troops. It begins well with reports of soldiers committing amazing feats against the invaders but later on some of the soldiers start to experience side effects from the vaccine, most of them claim to hear voices and erupt into psychotic rages.

 **1928** \- The virus immune soldiers begin to disappear from their posts, as does Doctor Malikov, as attempts to persuade the vaccinated soldiers to fall back to Moscow are met with failure.

 **1930** \- 90% of the vaccinated soldiers go AWOL and begin to go insane. They travel westward, preying on humans and continue to fight the Chimera, later named as the Cloven. In Germany, recovery from the Great War to a full member of the ETO solidifies support for the Weimar Republic government. The National Socialists' party's agenda is ridiculed and marginalized.

 **1938** \- Ghost towns appear across Russia and Belarus. European intelligence believe the use of chemical or biological weapons were involved.

 **1939** \- The UED (United European Defence) create the MDC (Military Defence Commission) in Luxembourg to focus on weapons research and development. Later in the year, over 100 Russian refugees die after trying to seek asylum in Finland. There is no response from St. Petersburg over the deaths.

 **1941** \- In December, Dr. Malikov flees for his life and travels to England with his research as the Chimera continue their onslaught against the Russians.

 **1944** \- The first nuclear weapons are tested in Alaska.

 **1947** \- A man, believed to be a Russian refugee, appears at the British Embassy in Estonia. The man's hands are completely frozen around a leather satchel. The man, referred to as "The Runner" by the news press, dies en route to Britain. The satchel he carries is found to contain what is apparently a genetically modified skull which had six eyes and was slightly larger than a human skull. Intelligence reports also find that entire cities in Russia have just suddenly been abandoned.

 **1948** \- European intelligence agencies try to listen in to Russian radio broadcasts. A British Intelligence MI6 listening station in the Ukraine records Russian radio broadcasts. After six weeks, the only signals heard are looping propaganda programs in Russian encouraging, "Brotherhood, strength and fortitude...in the face of the angry night".

 **1949** \- By the end of the year and having conquered Russia, the Chimera launch a massive invasion of Europe rapidly conquering the Baltic and Balkan nations. The year ends with the Chimera overrunning Poland and the Bratislava Line in Czechoslovakia.

 **1950** \- The UED struggle to withstand the relentless attacks by Chimeran forces but are offered hope by the United States, who offer military support. The UED also note the small number of refugees who escape from captured territory, such as only less than a thousand people survive the Fall of Warsaw, Poland, a city of nearly 2 million.

Italy falls in the first month of the year as Genoa, their last remaining stronghold, is taken by the Chimera.

By March, all of Continental Europe is overrun and millions of people are killed or turned into Chimera. The United Kingdom is the last free standing nation in Europe and begins evacuating civilians to Canada and Greenland. Chimera forces begin the invasion of the British Isles midway through the year, taking all the cities and infecting the population en masse with Spire attacks. On the other side of the world, Jordan Shepard, a test subject of Project Abraham, is injected with Pure Chimeran DNA and his body severely mutates into a Angel-like Chimeran being and starts referring himself as Daedalus.

 **1951** \- Events of Resistance: Fall of Man. Nathan Hale, sole survivor of Operation Deliverance and contributor to the fall of the Chimera in the UK, is picked up by SRPA forces just outside London not long after the destruction of the London tower. He is taken to a SRPA base in Iceland but is caught up in the Chimera invasion of the country, after being alerted to the location of Daedalus. Daedalus escapes captivity and the rest of SRPA forces evacuate Iceland back to the USA, where Hale is introduced to the Sentinels, other test subjects of Project Abraham to create super soldiers using Chimeran DNA. Events of Resistance 2.

 **1953** -May 15th to June 26th- The Chimera launch an invasion of the United States with a massive fleet of ships, conquering much of the east and west coast. Team Echo, a unit made up of Sentinels lead by Nathan Hale, head to Twin Falls to reactivate a section of the Liberty Defence Towers to prevent the Chimeran Fleet from venturing further into the States. The mission ends in success and the Chimera are halted for the time being.

Two days later, SRPA forces attack the Holar Tower in Iceland to shut down the tower network. The assault ends in failure and SRPA heavy losses, including the death of two members of Echo Team and Hale is put into a coma after an encounter with Daedalus. Soon after the failed mission the Chimera breach the Liberty Defence Perimeter, killing or infected 60 million people within hours, including the President of the United States.

Nathan Hale awakens from his coma to discover the US is on the verge of collapsing and because he hadn't taken his inhibitor treatment, he hasn't got long before the Chimeran virus in his body begins to take full control. With not much time left, Hale leads a mixed team of Sentinels and SRPA forces to the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico, where the nearly the entire Chimeran Fleet is assembled around a massive Tower excavated from the crater. The battle ends with all but two survivors and Hale defeating Daedalus and setting off a fusion bomb on the capital ship, destroying the rest of the fleet around it.

However, it has an unexpected side effect as it gives the towers an energy surge to open up a wormhole to a Purist controlled system. Hale succumbs to the Chimera virus and Joseph Capelli is forced to kill him. After Hale's death, Doctor Malikov studies Hale's body and finds antigen in his blood that becomes the basis of a cure for the Chimeran virus, named the Hale Vaccine. Not long after the vaccine is produced, all remaining Sentinels are giving it including Joseph Capelli who is dishonourably discharged for killing Hale.

 **Late 1953- 1957** \- With the wormhole open to the Purists, the Chimeran forces on Earth have completely subjugated humanity, reducing survivors to scatter to abandoned towns and villages. One settlement is Haven, Oklahoma where a resistance cell is located and lead by Joseph Capelli. On one day he is informed of a visitor which turns out to be none other than Doctor Malikov. He tells Capelli of a possible way of closing the wormhole and defeating the Chimera once and for all but is soon cut short when a Chimeran Death Squad arrives in Haven.

After holding off the attack, Capelli orders the settlement to evacuate and sends them and his family to safety, whilst he goes with Malikov to New York. Events of Resistance 3.

Battling through Chimeran forces and bandits across the ruins of the US, Capelli and a resistance force called The Remnant team together to bring down the New York tower. With Malikov dead after an encounter with convicts, the former Sentinel improvises a plan to send a terraformer, used by the Chimera to freeze the planet to their liking, into the tower.

The plan ends in success as Capelli manages to destroy the terraformer from within, causing it to crash down onto the tower and set off a chain reaction to all other towers in the United States. With the towers destroyed, the wormhole closes just before the Purists arrive and temperatures begin to rise again, all remaining resistance fighters across the globe launch an all out assault on the disarrayed Chimeran forces.

 **1964** \- 7 years after the Towers' destruction closed the wormhole, humanity begins to rebuild the devastated Earth despite massive environmental damage and half the world's population wiped out. It's by this time the last Chimeran stronghold falls in Siberia, Russia and finally ends the Human-Chimeran War.

 **1966** -With all the Chimera gone except the feral strains still around, delegates from the surviving nations meet in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss a possible central government to unite humanity under a single government for the first time. There is much debate over the structure of such a government, many of the delegates arguing it's for the best interest of every human incase of a possible Chimeran return and share the benefits of the stockpiles of technology left behind to help improve human society.

 **1975** \- After years of debates and a final guarantee that each nation will get equal footing on technological advances and shared knowledge, the United Earth Commonwealth is formed on the 16th of March. The United Kingdom, the United States, France, Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, Turkey and India are the first signatures of the new central government in the new global capital in Geneva, Switzerland.

 **1983** \- An issue that was all but forgotten until sightings in Russia and Finland, arises over what to do with the Cloven. Many believe that they should be exterminated, since they all have the Chimeran virus and pose a serious threat to human society. However, research and copies of documents from the Human-Chimeran War are found to show the Cloven never attacked humans unless provoked and possessed an amazing ability to reverse engineer both Chimeran and Gray Tech.

The Premier chooses to instead send a handful of delegates to meet with the Cloven to open a dialogue.

The reception they receive from the Cloven is frosty at first, but then cool down when the delegates begin talks with the Cloven leaders over a possible assimilation into UEC society. A deal is agreed on the promise that the Cloven get fair representation in the Commonwealth Parliament and equal opportunity as anybody else in the world, in exchange they would help in better understanding and improving captured technology. The Cloven officially join the UEC.

 **2009** \- Joseph Capelli, hero and many consider to be the saviour of humanity, dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90. The world mourns of his passing and he is given a state funeral.

 **2017** \- Thanks to reverse engineering the Chimeran and Gray technologies, as well as the information and research left behind in the Towers, all aspects of the newly rebuilt human civilisation on Earth improves better than before. Advancements in healthcare cures most life threatening diseases and disabilities and even helps with mental issues the Cloven suffer from. The terraformers help bring balance back to areas suffering environmental damage and advancements in the military allow for the new United Earth Commonwealth Armed Forces (UECAF) to react swiftly anywhere around the globe to any crisis. A continuing population boom since 1957 has reached to a record 5 billion.

 **2023- 2025** \- After human and Cloven scientists unlock new ways of space travel, the first manned space journey to the moon occurs in mid summer. Two years later a colony is set up for scientific research and possible future mining operations.

 **2055** \- Population reaches over 7 billion, causing concern of future overpopulating. Plans are drawn up over colonising the other planets of the solar system, in particular Mars as a prime target for terraforming. Several spacecraft are modified for the journey to the red planet, carrying colonists and scaled down versions of the terraformers on Earth. The new colonists arrive on Mars by January next year and immediately go to work on the terraformers

 **2077** \- The first visible signs of Mars turning into an Earth-like planet with a breathable atmosphere, grasslands and rivers appearing.

 **2090- 2091** \- With Mars now a success as a habitable planet, more terraforming projects are given approval on Europa, Io and Titan. Another project given approval is the first capable FTL drive ship to the nearby Alpha Centauri system. With a team of scientists and other personnel, the ship sets out to find any possible extra-solar planets in the system and is watched by everyone on Earth and the inner system colonises make it's maiden voyage.

After a week the ship exits out of FTL in the centre of the system. With extensive scanning and probing of the most possible habitable planet of the system, the scientists report back sending positive readings over the go ahead of sending a small terraforming operation and colonisation. The report is met with much enthusiasm and celebration over the first extrasolar planet for expansion. By next year several more ships full of human and Cloven colonists travel to the planet, blessing it the name Haven.

 **2113** \- Because there is no official naval force to defend the UEC and it's colonies from possible foreign and domestic troubles, the UECAF funds the building of FTL capable warships and creates the formation of the Commonwealth Space Fleet (CSF).

 **2140** \- Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Eridani, Tau Ceti and Epsilon Indi are first given the term Inner Colonies as the UEC continues to expand out further into the galaxy. At this point 6 star systems and 10 planets are flying the UEC colours.

 **2201** \- On the colony of Zeus, ruins of an ancient civilisation are discovered in the planet's vast forests. Upon exploring through the strange pristine interior of the the ruins many researchers first assume it to belong to the Chimera, until the technology found turns out to be identical to Gray tech. The find that catches the eye of everybody is the still working library style room, containing vast amount of information of the race the ruins had once belonged to. Zeus quickly becomes a major science hub soon after.

 **2248** \- The UEC population reaches over 15 billion and populate over 80 worlds.

 **2369** \- More worlds are found to have both ancient Chimeran and Gray ruins and structures. Many however are no longer in operation.

 **2419** \- UEC space is on high alert and panic spreads when a ship matching Chimeran design enters into the Commonwealth controlled system of Hera. The UECAF and CSF ready themselves and prepare to send a fleet to the system, until the vessel sends a message offering peace from the Chimeran Empire and wishes to establish relations.

Both sides agree to meet on the orbital station above the Hera colony. The Imperial diplomats grow curious as to why the human representatives appear to be both fearful and hostile of their presence. It's quickly made clear why when they are they are presented with the facts of the war which left humanity facing extinction, shocking the Imperials that their hated enemy attempts at destroying another civilisation.

The Imperials explain it was the fault of the Purists renegades and the Transformation Virus they used to destroy entire species, during their own war with them over two thousand years ago. Although not completely trusting the Imperial Chimera, the Commonwealth Parliament agrees a friendship and trade treaty signed by the Emperor and Premier in front of a vast audience from both sides. The first embassies open on Earth and Secaria.

The touring of the old Chimeran Towers around Earth rocks the Imperials to the very core, not quite believing what they are told and shown. They are given permission to study the Towers by the Commonwealth government after a personal request by the Emperor, to find out more of their unexpected ancient past.

 **2465** \- Several ships in UEC space are attacked and destroyed by weapons resembling that used by Imperial warships, causing outrage and the calling of the Chimeran ambassador to Parliament. She protests against the accusations, claiming there must be some mistake as the Empire has no quarrel with the Commonwealth. A week later after the destruction of the UEC ships, a tragedy causes shockwaves through Chimeran space.

The Emperor and most of the royal family are assassinated when the royal cruiser is destroyed on a return journey home to Secaria, the weaponry signatures matching CSF designs. With the Imperials accusing the UEC of this act, both sides are on the brink of war until a CSF cruiser disables a would be raider on the edge of UEC space. The boarding party capture half a dozen Chimera on board but after investigating the computer database, they discover these Chimera are not Imperials but the Purists.

This evidence is presented to the Imperials, thus avoiding war between the UEC and the Empire. In revenge for the murder of their beloved Emperor, the Imperials assemble a large fleet to strike at the Purists last holding system. The UEC send ships to join the fight, the first joint Commonwealth-Imperial military forces working together as payback for trying to eradicate them over 500 years ago.

On arrival at the Purist homeworld, the joint task force obliterate the small fleet guarding the planet then turn their attention to the planet, unleashing a massive bombardment onto the surface. Imperial and UECAF troops are sent to mop up any remaining Purists, both unaware of a lone ship escaping from the fight.

The battle ends in the defeat of the Purists and improved relations between the Empire and the Commonwealth. The Imperial High Council crown the last surviving child of their late Emperor, his youngest daughter Nissaya as Empress.

 **2491** -A terrorist organisation calling itself the Human Legion sends threats to the Commonwealth Parliament, demanding the removal of all Chimeran presence in UEC territory. They bomb government property and kill many people to prove their point, recruiting their members from the Outer Colonies by taking advantage of their distrust for the government back home.

The UECAF send troops to the colonies to track down the terrorists, engaging them on several worlds. They manage to defeat the larger groups on several colonies but the Legion still linger on many of the Outer Colonies, drawing the fight into guerilla style warfare.

 **2515** \- And now…

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 **Ok guys this is my first try at a fanfiction so I hope I did alright for your entertainment :). Criticism is welcome by all means and if you want more info on the factions of this story it'll be on my page.**

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	2. Tech: Weapons and Ships

**(** Author's note: Hey again guys just want to get all the tech stuff out of the way before loading up the chapters, so you can get an idea of what the equipment and ships appear as in the story **)**

 **UEC ships- Fleet strength at 5,900 ships**

Scimitar class Frigate (Resembles the ISA cruisers from Killzone)

 **Length** : 545 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- 1 Particle beam cannon. Secondary- Light and medium mass driver cannons, missile pods, 2 nuclear missile silos, anti-fighter turrets.

 **Defences** : Titanium hull plating, Energy shielding, ECM

 **Passenger complement** : 1 company of marines and 1 company of army troops

 **Craft complement** : 1 squadron of fighters and bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 4 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Prowlers, Widowmaker tanks, Cheetah quad-scout vehicles

Geneva class Destroyer (Bigger and bulkier version of the frigates)

 **Length** : 1000 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- 1 Particle beam cannons. Secondary- Light, medium and heavy mass driver cannons, missile pods, torpedo launchers, 4 nuclear missile silos, anti-fighter turrets.

 **Defences** : Titanium hull plating, Energy shielding, ECM

 **Passenger complement** : A battalion each of both marines and army troops

 **Craft complement** : 3 squadrons of fighters and bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 6 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Prowlers, Widowmaker tanks, Cheetah quad-scout vehicles

Marauder class Cruiser (The Marauder class bears resemblance to an Auger rifle)

 **Length** : 1500 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- 2 Particle beam cannons. Secondary- Light, medium and heavy mass driver cannons, missile pods, torpedo launchers, 6 nuclear missile silos, anti-fighter turrets.

 **Defences** : Titanium hull plating, Energy shielding, ECM

 **Passenger complement** : A regiment of marines and army troops

 **Craft complement** : 5 squadrons of fighters and 3 squadrons of bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 7 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Talos heavy walker (1), Prowlers, Widowmaker tanks, Cheetah quad-scout vehicles

Leviathan class Dreadnought (Larger versions of the cruisers)

 **Length** : 2700 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- 3 Particle beam cannons, Secondary- Light, medium and heavy mass driver cannons, missile pods, torpedo launchers, 6 nuclear missile silos, anti fighter turrets.

 **Defences** : Titanium hull plating, Energy shielding, ECM

 **Passenger complement** : 1 regiment of marines and 2 regiments of army troops

 **Craft complement** : 8 squadrons of fighters and 4 squadrons of bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 9 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Talos heavy walkers (2), Prowlers, Widowmaker tanks, Cheetah quad-scout vehicles

 **Reaper strike fighter** (Space version of the F-35 Lightning II)- Fast with great supermaneuverability, the Reaper strike fighters are both the fastest and best armed fighters produced by the UECAF so far. Armed with twin 30mm rotary cannons, machine guns and missile launchers, the Reapers are deadly foe against both rival fighter craft and ground targets.

 **Eagle heavy bomber** (A black and red version of a B2)- Big and bulky but the Eagle bomber is surprisingly fast and agile for a craft of it's size. Able to carry an assortment of payloads from conventional bombs and missiles to nuclear weapons,

 **Buzzard G/T dropship** (A mix between the U/AV-17 Hawk from the game and the Cheyenne Dropship from Aliens) - All purpose dropships that can carry up to a platoon of troops or can carry an assortment of vehicles and supplies into the battlefield. They can act effectively as air support too with it's armament of chain guns and missile pods.

Weapons & Vehicles

 **P17 Striker** (Thicker version to a L131A1 pistol)- Standard issue pistol of the UECAF personnel. The 9mm bullets are tipped with an explosive and ignites when the shooter triggers the switch on the side of the gun. Ammo capacity is up to 10 rounds.

 **BM08 Razor** \- One of the two standard issued weapons given to soldiers and marines of UECAF. It's design hasn't changed much from it's predecessors back in the Human-Chimeran War, however it does have an improved magazine size of 65 rounds. It's secondary fire has also improved to 7 homing tags that latch onto any target and the rounds follow once fired.

 **M2A5 Assault Rifle** (The same appearance as a Folsom Carbine but with a metal stock rather than wood)- The other standard issued rifle UECAF troops can choose. It has a magazine size of 40 bullets, improved sight optics and has an attached 40mm grenade launcher.

 **L5 Sharpshooter** (The same shape as a Deadeye only it's grey rather than black)- An extremely deadly and accurate sniper rifle, the L5 has a range of 1200 metres and uses the same scope used by the Augers. It's secondary fire is a proton charge that is capable of blow an enemy open but has difficulty in accuracy.

 **Rossmore 311 Shotgun** \- A powerful close range shotgun that possess a drum shaped ammo mag capable of up to 8 rounds each. It has a whole metal frame, unlike it's predecessors' solid wood stock. It is also equipped with a concussion grenade launcher.

 **XR-015 Hailstorm** \- The Hailstorm hasn't changed much in design other than its magazine size has been upgraded from 50 to 100. It fires subsonic energy bolts and can deploy a personal energy shield for the holder, able to absorb energy and kinetic weaponry.

 **Wildfire Multi-Rocket Launcher** \- The bulky Wildfire MRL is capable of firing off two heat seeking, high explosive round missiles that can ruin any enemy armour or dropships' day. It can fire missiles both simultaneously or independently.

 **Auger Mk10** \- Not much has changed in the design since its first use other than ammo and secondary shield increase. One of the most feared weapons in UECAF arsenal, capable of shooting high energy bolts through any solid surface and can scan through all types of cover. It can deploy a powerful shield which can absorb most damage, except for EMPs, other Auger rounds and heavy weapons fire.

 **UECAF Battle Suit** \- Eerily familiar to the gear used by SRPA forces but uses more advanced helmet system and more resistant plate protection and coloured green and black. The helmet has as standard issue mask attachment, adding additional protection to the wearer from conventional firearms and chemical attacks. (Pretty much the same helmet/mask used by SRPA)

 **Talos heavy walker** (The same as the Goliaths except their 'eyes' are blue rather than yellow)- Like their Goliath predecessors, the Talos heavy walkers are massive mobile siege platforms with heavy armour and enough firepower to level a small city if left unchecked. There isn't many in service and are carried to the battlefield by the larger ships of the UEC navy via aerial drop because of their size at 75 metres. The primary armament consists of two large multi-missile launchers on each side of its main body and equipped with various anti-air batteries, anti personnel chain guns and mortars as their secondary weaponry. **Crew-** 6

 **Widowmaker medium tank** (A mix between a leopard 2 and the sabretooth tank)- The Widowmaker tank makes up the bulk of the heavy armoured units of the UECAF. Armed with a 130mm cannon main gun and secondary chain gun and machine guns, the Widowmaker is formidable foe to come up against and tough nut to crack with a thick chobham armour plating. **Crew-** 3

 **Prowler scout walker** \- Based on the old Stalker models, the Prowler scout walker is used by UEC forces as both a scout vehicle and a light AFV. It has improved armour compared to its old predecessor, making it more resistant to small arms fire and is equipped with a small shield generator. Able to cross most terrains, the Prowler is a highly flexible and maneuverable combat machine armed with both anti aircraft and personnel cannons along with a missile pod to take on enemy armour. The computer systems and cameras on the Prowler allows the 2 man crew have a 360 viewing of the battlefield improving performance and better tracking of enemy movements. **Crew-** 2

 **Cheetah quad-scout vehicle** (Similar appearance to a Oshkosh M-ATV)- Fast, agile and maneuverable in most terrains, the Cheetah is a much favoured military vehicle for reconnaissance and hit and run raids. It can be equipped with an assortment of weapons from heavy machine guns to anti tank launchers. **Crew-** 1-5

 **Imperial Chimeran ships- Fleet strength 20,000 ships**

Dauntless class Corvette (Same appearance as the Bullseye shaped destroyers in RE2)

 **Length** : 800 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- Plasma beam cannon. Secondary- Plasma turrets, pulse laser turrets, torpedo launchers, anti fighter turrets

 **Defences** : Energy shielding, ECM, AI assisted self repair systems

 **Passenger complement** : 1,500 troops

 **Craft complement** : 3 squadrons of fighters and bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 3 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Crab walkers, scout hoverbikes

Illustrious class Destroyer (Chimeran ship from RE2 without the 'fin')

 **Length** : 1300 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- Plasma beam cannon. Secondary- Plasma turrets, pulse laser turrets, torpedo launchers, anti-fighter turrets

 **Defences** : Energy shielding, ECM, AI assisted self repair systems

 **Passenger complement** : 2,500 soldiers

 **Craft complement** : 5 squadrons of fighters and bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 6 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Crab walkers, scout hoverbikes

Subjugation class Cruiser (Similar to the Chimeran battleships from RE2)

 **Length** : 2600 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- Plasma beam cannon. Secondary- Plasma turrets, pulse laser turrets, torpedo launchers, anti-fighter turrets

 **Defences** : Energy shielding, ECM, AI assisted repairing systems

 **Passenger complement** : 5,000 soldiers

 **Craft complement** : 7 squadrons of fighters and bombers, dropships and shuttles

 **Engines** : 8 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Crab walkers, scout hoverbikes

Star Crusher class Dreadnought (Massive version of the cruiser types)

 **Length** : 6000 metres

 **Armament** : Primary- 2 Plasma beam cannons, Secondary- Plasma turrets, pulse laser turrets, torpedo launchers, anti-fighter turrets

 **Defences** : Energy shielding, ECM, AI assisted self repair systems

 **Passenger complement** : 15,000 soldiers

 **Craft complement** : 10 squadrons of fighters and bombers, dropships, shuttles

 **Engines** : 10 sublight engines

 **Cargo holding** : Crab walkers, scout hoverbikes

 **Crab walkers-** Huge heavily armoured platforms with pincer shaped plasma cannons on each side, along with smaller energy turrets on top of it's legs and as the name suggests their design is shaped roughly like a 6 legged crab. **Crew-** 5 or AI commanded


	3. Prologue

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 **Holo-Combat Centre 04, UECAF Military Base, Valhalla, Asgard System, UEC space: 2515**

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Taking cover behind a half wrecked Cheetah with enemy fire raining down all around him, Ben Howard checked the ammo count of his BM08 Razor then peered through a gap of the disabled quad-scout vehicle for an opening. Over a dozen flashes of enemy fire rained down on him from the fast food restaurant 20 metres from his position, which also happened to be his squad's designated target.

A bullet pinged off the side of the gap he was looking out of causing him to shy away for a second, then the sound of footsteps coming up behind him quickly sliding alongside into cover got his attention for a second.

"Still with me Michelle?" Ben asked her without turning, keeping his eyes on the restaurant and spotting the rotating AA gun on the roof that they had been sent to put out of commission.

"Yeah only just. One of those bastards almost had me back there" She gave a short breath then peaked over the seat section of the Cheetah, only to quickly lower her head again after being met by bullets ricocheting off the battered transport.

So far the 2nd Battalion of the 115th Assault Regiment had been locked into battle against enemy troops occupying the capital of an Outer Colony. Besides from a few squads, including his own, the bulk of the battalion were concentrated on the shopping mall being used as the enemy's main base of operations. Ben was ordered to take his squad to clear out one of the automated anti aircraft gun emplacements that were placed around city rooftops, preventing air support from coming in.

"Where did the others go?" Michelle asked firing a burst from her M2A5 rifle at the restaurant.

"Hang on. Dan, Nat, Victor report in" Ben pressed onto the comm on the side of his helmet still ducking from the whirlwind of bullets.

" _On my way Corporal, some_ krelacs _thought they could get the jump on me_ " The thick accented voice of Victor came through his helmet's comm, followed by a shotgun blast.

"Right here Corp!" The towering figure of Dan called out crouching behind a hovercar to his right, deactivating the shield of his X-015 Hailstorm for recharge.

" _I'm fifteen metres away from your position Corporal Howard_ " Natalie's slight accented voice reported in last. The HUD on his visor showed all his squad's statuses were green and were close by in the fast food car park.

"What's the plan Corp?" Dan asked him just as Ben caught a glimpse of Victor jumping out of a shop window and ran over to the now crowded cover of the Cheetah. Glancing around their position as best he could Ben saw there wasn't much in terms of cover, other than a few cars and buildings spread out at a rough guess of 40 metres away from the restaurant.

Quickly forming a plan in his head as best he could, he laid it out to them

"Alright. Victor I want you to fire a few rounds from your Auger into the windows both left and right of the entrance. Me and Michelle will lay down suppressing fire while Dan, you go through the entrance and take the tangos inside. We'll be following close behind and Nat, you head over to the cafe across the street and take up sniper position on the roof. Everyone got that?"

" _On your word Corporal Howard_ " Natalie's voice confirmed as the others all nodded at his plan. Victor swapped his shotgun over for his Auger and Ben saw Dan and Michelle grip onto their weapons, waiting for him to give the go ahead.

"On three. One...two...three!" Victor jumped ahead of the rest of them and pulled on the Auger's secondary trigger, deploying one of the curved shaped energy barriers and firing several rounds that sounded like heavy thuds into the restaurant. Ben aimed his fire at the visible enemy troops behind the barricaded windows whilst Michelle concentrated on the ones firing from the roof. Dan had stood up from behind the Cheetah and activated the Hailstorm's shield which surrounded and arched around his body, with the front end of the boxy minigun sticking out and peppering subsonic bolts at the face of the building.

Ben and Michelle broke from cover and followed behind the tall form of Dan, keeping behind the green shield and kept firing away at the enemy. As soon as they closed in on the restaurant he and Michelle broke away and took cover behind the wall below the now barricade free windows.

"Victor, how many are on the roof?"

"Six. Scratch that, five" He peered through the Auger's infra-red scope at the hostiles on the roof.

" _Four, Modric_ " Natalie corrected him, boasting over the comm as she took down another tango. Ben quickly turned his attention back to the remaining troops inside the fast food place, the interior and several enemy tangos being torn up thanks to the heavy fire from Dan's minigun.

"Throwing a Hedgehog!" Michelle called out tossing the barbed needle grenade into the fray. The metal clanging of it expanding and shooting out at some unfortunate soul caught in its blast radius was enough to keep the attackers heads down.

"Damn Colton, talk about overkill" Dan chuckled while reloading, now taking cover behind an upturned table with his shield down. Seeing that the hostiles numbers were now whittled down to just two, one behind the tills and the other in a cubicle, the quartet moved further into the restaurant. Ben caught the one behind the tills prepping a grenade but he swiftly put an end to that idea, sending three rounds from his Bullseye into the offender's chest.

"Target down" Both he and Michelle simultaneously stated as the last of the defenders fell, having taken down the other in the cubicle.

" _The roof is clear_ " Natalie claimed over the comm.

"Looks like that's all of them" Ben said checking over the fallen bodies incase any of them were playing dead "Michelle with me. Dan, Victor watch out for enemy movement and Nat, keep an eye out on your end"

"Got it" Leaving the others to their assigned tasks, he and Michelle entered the kitchen area and found the ladder leading up to the roof in the corner of the room. Upon stepping on the roof of the restaurant the only thing they found to have signs of life was the automated AA gun, rotating in a full circle tracking for incoming aircraft.

"Right, lets see about turning this bloody things off" Ben placed his Bullseye onto the magnetic clamp on his back and walked over to the computer console attached to the AA gun with Michelle on guard by the edge, in the opposite direction to Natalie. Just as he loaded up the blue and white screen of the turret, a new voice cracked over the comm

" _Corporal Howard come in. Have you got the AA turrets down yet?_ " Ben instantly recognised it as their CO, Captain Pires.

"Yes sir, it should be offline about...now" He pressed on the deactivation button and the humming of the AA turret started to wined down until it became completely inert.

"Didn't the assholes bother to password protect it" Michelle snorted at how simple it was to take the gun offline.

" _Confirm, all AA guns are now offline. I suggest you sit back and enjoy the fireworks_ " No sooner had the captain said those words a flight of _Reaper_ strike fighters screamed over their heads, flying over to the centre of the city where the rest of 115th were battling it out. Even from where he was standing Ben could see the explosions of missiles finding their mark, slamming into buildings and ground targets turning them into black clouds of fire and smoke.

"Game over for them huh?"

" **SIMULATION EXERCISE IS COMPLETE. PLEASE PREPARE TO DISCONNECT** " The feminine voice of the combat simulator system rang in his ear as his vision was momentarily blinded by the simulation ending. The blinding white light that filled his vision before disappeared and was replaced by real time again, feeling the simulator's mask and gloves still attached to his face and hands.

The simulation pod he had been standing in suddenly hissed open, showing mirroring actions of hundreds more just like his. Unclipping the mask off his face and pulling off the gloves, Ben placed them back into the offered compartments then stepped out to see everyone of the 2nd Battalion either rubbing areas of their body they had been 'shot' at in the simulation or talking to each other.

A groan to his left made him focus on the short figure stumbling of Natalie stumbling out of her pod, stretching her arms out after having them locked in downward stationary position for a long period of time.

"How you feeling Nat?"

"Great, I think I equalled my record on headshots that time" She boasted giving him a grin as she looked pleased with her achievement. Ben rolled his eyes and gave a snort at the Human-Cloven hybrid's strange satisfaction at setting herself personal targets at eliminating the opposition in different fashions.

"I worry about you sometimes Nat" Michelle commented in, giving her a mock worried expression.

"Well you got to find some way to make the simulations more interesting, because they're starting to get real boring" Dan added as he approached them from his own pod.

"I wasn't hit by a single shot in that round" Victor proclaimed proudly completing the group circle.

"Yeah so what does that make it now?, 134 to 2" The Chicagoan folded her arms at him, poking fun at an unflattering record he possessed.

"Two?, I thought it was his first time" The group all laughed at the Serbian's expense who only shrugged his shoulders at the usual banter that was directed at him.

"I only get shot at some much because I'm always saving your sorry _sakritis_ " Any more attempts at mocking each other were stopped when a gruff voice barked at them from behind.

"Corporal!, what took your squad so long clearing out that gun nest?" The tough, scary looking soldier that was Sergeant Marcus Henrik demanded from him.

"We wanted to take detour to enjoy the view" If Henrik's eyes could shoot daggers, Ben was sure that Victor wouldn't be standing up now.

"You're already on thin ice with me Modric, I suggest you keep your mouth shut" Despite the threat Victor's grin didn't drop from his face which only irritated Henrik more.

"Sarge, we we're delayed by heavy resistance on the way to the restaurant"

"Don't worry about it soldiers" Captain Pires butted in to deflate an escalating argument between them "In fact Corporal, you guys were the only squad sent out to have not lost a single man. Even with Private Modric's track record" He grinned at the Serb who got a elbow to the side from Natalie at his comment.

"What are we to do now sir?" Ben asked him watching passing members of their battalion making their way out of the room.

"Exercises are finished for the day, so take the rest of the evening off. Me and Sergeant Henrik have to report to Colonel Hall and see how we got on compared to the 1st Battalion" The whole squad gave the departing captain a salute then crowded around together.

"I need a drink" Dan sighed rubbing his eyes.

"I second that. Let's head on over to the Hag's Arms" Michelle suggested getting nods of approval from Victor and Natalie.

"Coming Corp?"

"Sure but let's get out of these first" He pointed to the interface jumpsuits they were all wearing which allowed them to connect to combat simulators. Ben lead the way to the locker room leaving the huge room of holo-pods behind. When they entered into the locker room area they found it to be almost completely crowded by everyone in their battalion, changing out of the jumpsuits and putting on the standard issue army trousers, boots and grey shirt used for casual wear.

"Hey Dan, you heading to the pub?" Someone shouted amongst the crowd of changing soldiers.

"Yeah we'll be there soon" Ben and his squad soon found their named lockers and quickly got about getting out of the jumpsuits like everybody else.

"So Ben, many times were you hit this time?" He heard Corporal Jack Muller quizz him from the other side of his locker.

"None mate"

"Seriously?, how is it that you're the only one to never get hit by one of those damn ghosts"

"Luck I suppose" He shrugged pulling off the jumpsuit and grabbing his trousers.

"Do you carrying a shamrock or horseshoes around in your pocket?" Ben chuckled at the other Corporal's joke then turned around when he heard somebody give a wolf whistle in Michelle's direction.

"Woah, check out the ballistics on that"

"If you know what's good for you Carlos I suggest you look else where" She gave the leering man a thinly veiled threat, ignoring the stares she was getting from him and his friends who were focusing on her chest.

"Hey show some respect or I'll teach it to you" Dan's open threat immediately made them all go back to what they were originally doing, knowing full well not to mess with the big Tau Ceti born Vietnamese. This caused Ben to smile at his teams standing up for each other as he put on his shirt and boots on. Having finished getting changed into the UECAF casual gear Ben and his squad left the Combat Centre, going about finding a vehicle to take them to the pub.

The sun was starting to set over the now purple Valhallan sky as they left the building, the usually hot temperature of the day slowly dropping but not enough to make anyone shiver since the widely known military hub of the entire United Earth Commonwealth armed forces always had a warm climate except for its southern pole. Thinking about the planet brought the famous saying of Valhalla to mind as the second home of every soldier, marine, sailor and pilot.

The base was littered with different buildings used for different training methods and arenas to testing grounds for weapons research. They all walked down the long wide concrete road having conversations amongst themselves and passing troops, letting a few Cheetahs to pass by them and glancing over at the crew of a Prowler tinkering with the war machine on the side of the road.

After a short walk to one of the garages, Ben stopped the small group in front of the still open doors

"OK wait here, I'll see if Korlov will let us borrow some transport" Leaving them outside he walked into the hangar sized garage, knowing the usually grumpy Cloven Chief would be reluctant to release any of them. There was hardly any life in the garage other than a couple of mechanics looking over one of the Widowmakers turrets, one of whom was refitting the chain gun attached to the 130mm main gun.

The office of the Chief Engineer was at the back of the garage and where Ben hoped the old man was still lingering

"Hey Chief, you in there"

"Let me guess, you want one of my newly cleaned and repaired Cheetahs to go out drinking, yes?" The Corporal was shocked that the old mechanic instantly knew what he was going to ask for, walking out of his office with stern expression on his pale face.

Since when were Cloven telepathic?, He thought to himself

"You're not the first ones to ask" He answered before him, folding his arms and glared at him, unnerving the soldier with his dark red eyes "Why should I allow you permission to take one, knowing full well it will not come back in the condition that I left it in?"

"Because you can trust me Chief. I'll be the designated driver, so you won't have to worry about Victor or Michelle taking it for a ride. Plus I'll get you a bottle of whiskey when we return" Ben came up with his best excuse and giving his best honest expression, seeing as Cloven could tell from a mile off if somebody was lying to them.

"Very well but keep Modric away from the wheel, otherwise I'll have you all scrubbing the tracks of the Widowmakers with a toothbrush" The Cloven Chief threw him a pair of keys off the wall and waved him out, not seeing the smile of relief on the young man's face. Finding the light armoured vehicles all lined up together on the far side of the garage, he took the closest one to him starting it up and driving it out of the garage.

"Hop aboard" They all jumped aboard with Michelle calling shotgun at the front passenger seat with the rest climbing in the back seats, straight away causing problems since there was only 2 back seats.

"Ugh great, one of us has to go up in the middle"

"Go on Natalie, you're smallest" Victor shoved the youngest squad member in the middle of the Cheetah

"Fine" She sighed and mumbled something in Russian as she stood up in the turret bay. Ben turned the key and the armoured car came to life again, the roar of it's powerful engines echoed around them as they set off to the pub they lay a 5 miles away from the base. The journey to the pub was uneventful, beside the guards giving them sceptical looks when they drove by with the acquired quad-scout vehicle and the kick to the chest Victor received for he and Dan continuously teased Natalie on the way there.

The pub in question was soon in their sights, it's luminescent sign of a Hag form Chimeran with its arms crossed on top of the place. There were military personnel and civilians alike entering and exiting the busy pub, music blaring out of the building and people standing outside smoking cigarettes by the entrance having a good time.

Due to the Cheetah's size which dwarfed all the other cars in the pub's car park, Ben had to drive over two spaces that would no doubt piss a lot of people off.

"Come on then guys" They all disembarked out of their transport and walked to the pub's entrance, greeting the familiar faces of their unit.

"Vic you're buying the first round" Ben announced scanning for an empty table.

"Why do I have to?" He frowned at having to be the first one to pay.

"Because you never buy the first round" Dan slapped him on the back going with him over to the bar. As the two of them left he spotted one table in the middle of the room with six chairs surrounding it, directing the other two to follow him.

"You know Ben, Dan has got a point. Those sims are starting boring" Now they were officially off duty Michelle called him by his first name and spoke freely, although they did that on duty anyway.

"Not only that, I'm only one out of the Regiment to not have any real combat experience" Natalie complained taking a seat next to him. It was true that she had only been with the regiment for just over a year, missing out when the 115th were deployed to New Terra to put down a Human Legion uprising.

"Well who is there left to fight. Those piece of shit Legion are nearly all gone thankfully and there hasn't been any sign of those Purist Chimera for nearly 25 years. Unless you're mad as a Widowmaker on steroids, you can see if the Imperials want a go" That ended the conversation right there. Truth of the matter was despite the still growing advancement and military strength of the UEC, there was no possible way they could defeat the Chimera in a straight up war.

A tray of drinks slid in the middle of their table changed the tune as Victor sat down at the table, minus Dan.

"Where's the big guy?" Michelle quizzed to which Victor answered by pointing at the bar where the man in question was chatting up two women sitting on bar stools

"Something's never change aye?" Ben shook his head in amusement.

"What were guys talking about?" The now pleased Victor asked them with a pint of beer in his hand.

"Oh just that combat sims are becoming tiresome and long for real life action" Natalie shrugged staring into her glass at the light brown beverage.

"Be careful what you wish for Nat, it may give you an unexpected surprise" Michelle warned the youngster before taking a swig from her drink.

"Enough talk about fighting" Victor caught them all by surprise by shooting up from his seat and raising his drink in the air "To the one-one-five, the best damn regiment of the Commonwealth army!" A chorus of cheers and glasses clinking together in agreement rang all through the pub, the music track changing to a new song that only heightened the spirits of everyone. Laughing at the chugging Serbian downing his pint Ben glanced over at the girls, who shared his humour over the enthusiastic soldier.

Ben smiled again but more to himself. He couldn't help but think how lucky he was in this moment in time to be serving in the finest regiment of the army and to have friends and comrades like these, of which he would gladly lay down his life for. There was nothing in the galaxy that could take that from him.


	4. Deployment

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 **Gymnasium Hall, UECAF Military Base, Valhalla, Asgard System, UEC space**

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The loud cheering and shouts of encouragement from various spectators almost deafened Ben's hearing, watching as the two combatants hit it out in the ring. The gym hall was almost stuffed full of army, navy and marine personnel to see someone from their respective branches fight it out in the boxing ring. The match was more than just to blow off steam it was also for bragging rights over who were the better branch of the UECAF, and for some quick creds to be won.

"Come on Dekker, rip that space urchin a new one!" Michelle shouted next to him, showing she was just into this match as everyone else in the gym hall. The match was contested between Sergeant Major Chris Dekker of the 32nd Armoured Brigade and Lieutenant David Silva of the CSF Cruiser _Amazon_.

"He's been kicking his arse for nearly two rounds now" Ben stated as the tankman landed two more punches right into the centre of Silva's face.

"Yeah, I'm surprise that Silva is still standing. Dekker has one helluva of punch on him" Dan agreed keeping his eyes on the fight. The bell rang signalling the end of the round and by the way the fight was going, it didn't look as if the Naval officer was going to last another with the tough as nails Sergeant Major.

The noise in the hall lowered but not by much, enough for Ben to hear the bickering voices of Natalie and Victor squeezing their way through the crowd.

"What took you guys so long?"

"The line to the betting table was long and Modric got us lost" Natalie said thumbing to the sheepish looking Victor.

"It's a big crowd, it's easy to get lost in here" His excuse only got an unconvinced glare from the youngster "Besides what's to worry, we'll be a few credits richer fairly soon"

The bell rang again and the boxers approached each other for another round, causing the spectators to turn up the volume once again. The navy Lieutenant was showing more visible signs he wasn't going to last long with Dekker throwing one of his hammer like punches to him, swaying like a drunk and keeping close to the ropes. The hall echoed as Ben and all the other army personnel present chanted for Dekker whilst the sailors and pilots were calling out for Silva, not that it did much good for him.

The knock out blow came as Dekker delivered an uppercut that connected perfectly to Silva's chin, sending him straight to the mat and laying almost out cold from the well time strike. The ref was counting him out for the knock out with some assistance from the crowd. There was still some life left in Silva as he tried climbing the ropes. It wasn't enough however and the ref signalled for the end of the match, the room erupted into a loud cheer of both happy and disappointed faces decorating the crowd.

"And that's why you don't mess with the army!" Somebody next him shouted. In the ring the competitors were both standing in the centre with the ref raising Dekker's arm in victory, his name being chanted by the army supporters around the outside. The two shook hands at the end and climbed out the ring in different directions of the crowd.

"Go on then Vic, go get our winnings and try not to get lost this time" Dan nudged the visibly annoyed soldier who obviously didn't want to go through the large crowd again.

"Dekker sure showed those navy wimps a thing or two"

"Give the Lieutenant some credit. Not many people could put with being hit like that for that long" Ben gave some defence for the beaten opposition.

"What's the Captain doing?" Natalie pointed to the ring. They all turned to where she was pointing and sure enough Pires was speaking with the ref, the latter handing the microphone over to former.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen unless you're of the 115th, grab your cash and make your way out hall. Thank you" This caused a few to murmurs of curiosity over why the Captain was keeping them back.

The room was soon cleared of everyone except for nearly 40 soldiers of the regiment, all standing around the now empty ring waiting for Pires to give reason for keeping them behind. Just before he spoke, Ben felt Victor tap his shoulder and handed over his winning credits.

"Ok boys and girls listen up. Tomorrow we'll be heading out to the Outer Colony of New Babylon, so I want you all to return to barracks and pack your gear. This is just a heads up before the Colonel sends out the order"

"Why are we going to New Babylon, Captain?" Michelle asked what everyone was thinking.

"All will be explained in due time. For now go get your stuff ready because knowing the Colonel, you'll be up bright and early so try and get an early night" He gave a quick nod then left the ring, leaving the others to mull over what was going on.

"Did you know anything about this Corp?"

"No Dan, it's the first I've heard of this" Ben frowned feeling just as bewildered by the sudden deployment as the rest of them. Something didn't sit right with him about their new orders. To be told they were being shipped out at such short notice without an explanation, yet anyway, was odd to say the least.

"Why do you think we're being sent to this New Babylon place?"

"Probably to do some joint exercise with the planetary militia" Victor answered Natalie's question first, his guess getting a grumble from everyone in the group.

"God that's so boring. Half of the time they think they're bunch of badasses because they hold a gun and the other half have trouble telling their ass from their elbow" Michelle shook her head, hating the idea of training a bunch of part time troopers.

"Perhaps they have a Legion problem their own security forces can't handle"

"Maybe, but Pires would of mention if it was those assholes" They all continued to speculate on the way to barracks, except for Ben who still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

It wasn't until they reached the barracks, a collection of 4 story grey buildings in a long row running almost 2 miles used as living quarters for the on duty soldiers when the UNICOM on their wrists all beeped at an incoming message. As predicted it was from Colonel Hall.

 **ALL PERSONNEL OF THE 115TH REGIMENT ARE TO REPORT TO THE NAVAL SPACEPORT AT 0530. PACK FOR A LONG TRIP.**

"Well that confirms guys" Ben stated tapping on the device, lowering the small projected screen "I suggest you take the Captain's advice and go about getting your stuff ready now and have an early kip"

"It's only eight-forty Corporal" Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, resisting the urge to sigh at the almost juvenile way Natalie complained of the time.

"Yes but by the time you get everything ready it'll be nine o'clock. Then me and Dan have to wake up earlier then you lot to get your arses out of bed and when your done getting ready, we'll have to head over to the armoury and then get a lift to the spaceport on time. That's unless you want to have Henrik to give you an early morning chat" All protest evaporated at the mention of getting a _lecture_ from the firebrand sergeant "I'll see you lot in the morning"

Ben and Dan split from the group and went over to barrack D-3, the sleeping quarters given to army NCOs. They both placed their UNICOMs on the ID pads on the doors, it's white scanners connecting to the wrist device for a few seconds before lighting up green allowing them access. As they walked up to the second floor he spotted Muller at the top of the stairs reading a message off his UNICOM.

"Hey Jack did you get the word?" Dan quizzed him first.

"Yeah not too long ago, where do you think it is this time?"

"Some place called New Babylon according to Pires" Ben answered, stopping as they reached the top step.

"That's an Outer Colony right?. It's probably Legion stirring shit again" The other Corporal shrugged coming up with the same conclusion as Michelle and most likely everyone else of the regiment "Well I've gotta have a word with my squad before we ship out. See you guys later"

Letting him pass by them down the stairs they carried on until reaching their shared quarters, both names and rank on the door on a small blue computer screen. When he got in Ben went to his side of the room which consisted of the basic standard issue bed given to all military personnel, a small metal bedside cabinet and the old union flag of the UK hanging on his wall. He pulled out a duffle bag from under the bed and started to pack a personal wash kit, an extra change of clothes and pulled out 3 extra Razor clips from the cabinet.

Dan on the other hand had stopped packing and turned on the television built into on the wall, the holo screen popping up in the 32 inch frame next to the door.

" _...And the Tau Ceti Tigers continue their impressive form today as they defeat the Orion Ravagers in the final qualifying round for the Commonwealth Galaxy Cup 3-1_ "

"I'm telling you Corp, it's the Tigers' year. We've beaten everybody in our way and will be flying our colours over the trophy" The big Tau Ceti born pointed his thumb to the red and yellow jersey on his wall.

"Keep dreaming mate. I hear they have a special display case waiting back in Geneva once the Lions retain it for the third year running"

"What with most of your best players out injured?. It's coming home to New Saigon buddy" Before he could retort back, the news report switched to a different subject.

" _In other news today, Premier Cartwright has denied rumours of a disturbance along the Chimeran border. Sources claim ships have been sent to the outer fringes of the Empire's borders, causing speculation of an attack from Purist remnant forces. There has been no word from the Chimeran ambassador as of yet to confirm these claims, despite continuing attempts to-_ "

"Those bastards just don't know when to quit" Dan snorted going back to packing his bag, the news reporter becoming nothing more than background noise as Ben did the same.

Managing to get a least a few hours sleep before waking half hour before his set alarm, Ben lay awake thinking over the new deployment orders. It was strange enough they were being practically rushed to a new system without so much of an explanation from the Colonel, then there was the news report on suspicious activity along the Chimera's borders. It could be just coincidence he thought, but then again it would of been a miraculous one that it so happened they were being sent away to some Outer Colony near the edge of UEC space on short notice just as trouble was brewing over the border.

The blaring of the alarm ringing from his UNICOM brought him out of his musing to the stirring form of Lance-Corporal Hai from the other side of the room.

"What time is it Corp?"

"Four am" A growl escaped from Dan as he sat up from his bed, mumbling what sounded like cursing early morning wake up calls. Ben climbed out of bed and went to his locker, pulling out the various pieces of his Battle Suit and putting them on one bit at a time. Having put on the specialised airtight body suit he clipped on the chest plate, armoured gauntlets and shin guards to reinforce his combat boots, then attached the shoulder and elbow pads to finish his body protection before putting on his helmet and mask.

"You ready?" He glanced up to an already dressed Dan, in the process of linking the mask and helmet systems together.

"Yeah, lets go wake those lazy sods up" The faint flash of red in his visor meant the link was complete and so left with Dan in tow, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. They met up with several other NCOs including Muller and Henrik, who gathered them over by the entrance of the barracks containing the troops of the regiment.

"I'm headed up to the spaceport now. In the meantime wake the sleeping beauties up and make sure everyone of them is up, ready and dressed before the APCs arrive. Got it?" They all nodded to his command then he left, walking over to a waiting Cheetah near by. Another Sergeant pressed his wrist device to the ID scanner letting them all in and move down the corridors and stairs.

"Come on up and at 'em!" The same Sergeant banged the door of the first room on the first floor. Ben and the other NCOs all repeated the same actions, either banging on the doors or opening up the six bunked rooms turning on the lights and calling them out.

"Come on you guys, time to get up" Ben opened a door to the awakening troops and switched the piercing lights.

"Jeez Corporal, gives us a minute" One of them moaned shielding his eyes from the unwelcome bright light.

"You don't have a minute, so shift" He left them be, carrying on down the corridor to several more rooms and waking the weary lot from their slumber. After all rooms were now barely alive with activity, Ben stood outside the barracks with Dan and Muller waiting for everyone of the 115th to make an early morning appearance.

"Look at them, it's like an army of the dead" Muller joked at the growing number of soldiers leaving the confines of the barracks, all sounding and moving miserably at coming out to the still Valhallan night sky.

"It's been awhile since we had an early morning call, so it's not surprising some of them have gone soft" Dan reasoned, shrugging his shoulders as they watched out for familiar faces of their squads. All of Muller's were out so he left to go have a talk with them, leaving the duo searching for the other members of their own.

A minute later Ben recognised Natalie and Michelle coming toward them with Nat working on syncing her mask to the helmet link.

"Morning guys" He greeted the tired pair.

"Ugh, I hope the Colonel has a good reason for getting us up this damn early" The half asleep voice of Michelle complained through his comm. Both were holding duffel bags over their shoulder and waiting for the last squad member.

"Anybody seen Modric yet?" On cue Victor stormed over to them, clearly not happy with something.

"Hai, why did you throw a fucking basketball at my head?!" He seethed directing his anger to the waiting Lance-Corporal.

"You told me to fuck off when I ordered you out of your bunk" Dan shrugged unapologetically "Next time don't be so rude, otherwise you'll find something a lot harder than a basketball hitting that thick skull of yours"

"Alright that's enough, our transports coming this way" Ben stepped in to diffuse the argument before something more painful than words were exchanged between them, pointing down the road at the approaching Grizzly APCs and army trucks. The big 6 wheeled armoured transports filled up the road and came to a halt, opening the back metal doors to allow the waiting troops to board.

Ben stood by the second Grizzly letting the others board first then climbed in himself, choosing to stand and grab onto one of the handle bars hanging from the ceiling. Everybody else except for a few others were sitting on the benches, some of whom were having conversations among themselves or sitting quietly waiting to reach the armoury. The trip to the armoury took around 5 minutes and all the Grizzlies and trucks halted, releasing their human cargo to grab their weapons for the destination ahead.

Climbing out first from the APC Ben lead the occupants to the others coming out of the vehicles and towards the heavily guarded building. There were guards standing by the entrance of the place with drones patrolling around the perimetre, stopping as they turned to stare down at them with the red 'eye' in the centre of the machines bodies. Ben was sure there was a few other nasties hidden around should anything unfriendly were to happen to the base.

One by one a skeletal shaped robot standing by the door of the main armoury scanned their UNICOMs for verification, allowing them all by once it was happy with the scan.

"That thing always gives me the creeps" Michelle said behind him as she passed the robot's scanning.

"Probably because it looks so much like you"

"Fuck you Modric" Ben himself suppressed a chuckle, unlike the others around them who sniggered at Victor's quip. When they finally got into the armoury, he made his way down the long aisles of guns of all types from conventional to heavy duty firearms. He picked out two P17 Striker pistols and a Razor from the racks and grabbed over half a dozen clips from the ammo crates for each one.

After typing in the logbook on what he acquired, he made his way back to the waiting Grizzly with everyone now equipped with their preferred choice of weapons. It was a 25 minute drive to the spaceport so Ben check over his squad who were all crammed in the now bunched up APC.

Dan was standing up on the other end of the passenger compartment annoying a couple of the troops, thanks to the XR-015 Hailstorm almost knocking them over and taking up room of the already cramped space. Victor was sitting in the middle of the left hand side bench wrapping a sling around his Rossmore 311 shotgun and Mk 10 Auger, chatting with Michelle who was sitting opposite with Natalie who was resting her head on Colton's shoulder appearing to have snoozed off.

Ben shook his head in amusement at the 115th's youngest member, loosely holding onto her L5 Sharpshooter standing upright between her knees. On her forearm was the knife sheath they all had, only rather than the standard issue combat knife it contained her custom made Cloven Dagger given to her by her Cloven grandfather back on Haven after she joined the army. It had a red, brown and black coloured handle and a black steel blade with the Russian equivalent of the letter D carved in the middle of the blade. It was supposedly to be some representation of Cloven culture and Ben knew well enough that nobody was to touch it other than herself, even Colonel Hall and Pires knew better than to handle a Cloven Dagger without permission from its owner.

Michelle turned to him and could see he was looking amused behind his masked at Natalie dropping off next to her, just shrugged in response lightly moving her head. Her M2A5 Assault Rifle was lying on top of her duffel bag on the floor whilst she sat back against the wall of the Grizzly.

The APC finally stopped at their destination and let them out the back as before, only this time the twin suns of Asgard were starting to rise above the sky. Ben was one the first to climb out of the APC with his duffel bag swung over his shoulder and holding his BM08 Razor in one hand and checking to see if his P17s were in the holsters with the other.

The Grizzly had dumped them by one of the spaceports docks that had a CSF _Marauder_ -class Cruiser hovering nearby, it's extension tubes locked against the sides of the dock. The ship was one of the most easily recognisable ships of the entire CSF for its design that made it look like an Auger rifle, minus the ammo feed. The huge vessel had the typical dark blue coloured hull with white runes painted on both sides of forward section, stopping as it curved into the bay of the visible Particle Cannons sticking out of the front.

"Is that what's taking us to Babylon?" Natalie's still sleepy sounding voice asked him.

" _New_ Babylon and yeah I imagine so"

"Come on form up, form up!" Sergeant Henrik's bellowing voice ordered them over as over 1,800 bodies converged over to the officers waiting on a platform that lead up to the ship. They circled around the small group of officers who appeared to have been waiting there for some time.

"Hurry up Chavez, Paulson stand up straight. Modric look where you're pointing that damn thing!" Henrik shouted at Victor who was swinging his shotgun about in an unprofessional manner. Ben noted Colonel Hall wearing his distinctive sunglasses as always and smoking a lit cigar, Captain Pires and the other senior officers of the regiment standing with a few officers in the white naval uniform of the Commonwealth Space Fleet.

When everyone finally stood into place, Colonel Hall pressed on a small megaphone and spoke at them through it.

"Good morning everybody" His southern American accent came through the megaphone without a fault "I know you're all wondering why I've called you all out here on such short notice and not much else on why you'll out on this fine morning"

"Well we didn't come out for kicks"

"Shut up Chavez" Someone growled behind him, ending any more disgruntled muttering before the Colonel continued.

"The local government of New Babylon has been whining to High Command back home, complaining of insufficient help from the UECAF. So Command has asked us to beef up their defences and perform joint exercises with the local defence forces"

"Oh for God sake" Michelle grumbled through the comm.

"I know. It's not the best of jobs, quite frankly it can be goddamn boring. However, you are soldiers of the best damn regiment of the whole damn army so put up with. The others are complaining we're getting the more exciting posts and want us to stop being such greedy bastards and let them have a chance at heroics" A few chuckles rang around the crowd at the last part of his speech "This here is Captain Fisher of the CSF Cruiser _Amazon_ , the same vessel that was shown up by us 'ground pounders' last night" The said Captain rolled his eyes at the jibe "Captain do you want to take it from here?"

Captain Fisher took the outstretched megaphone from Hall, clearing his voice before speaking through it.

"The journey to the Babylonian System is a ten hour jump. You can do as you please, so long as you don't hamper the running of the ship and the duties of my crew. Oh uh and one last thing, avoid clashing with the marines. They may see your temporary stay as an intrusion on 'their' turf" Snorts of disgust echoed around the gathered troops "After you Colonel"

"Come on in lines three!" Henrik directed the troops into an orderly fashion, with the officers taking position up front and leading them up the platform to the cruise.

"I knew it

"Quit complaining Michelle, it might not be that bad"

"Yeah sure it will" She said not at all convinced. Ben fell into line taking a spot in the middle with Dan and Michelle taking flanking positions on either side of him, marching with the rest of the 115th down the rectangular box shaped tubes.

"So how long do you think before somebody gets into a fight with the leathernecks?"

"Five seconds, once you open your mouth Modric" A stern look from Henrik stopped any further arguing from Natalie and Victor, opting to keep quiet until they were inside the ship. Ben on the other hand hoped her predication wasn't about to come true.


	5. Contact

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 **Checkpoint Bravo, Sura Forest, 60 Miles Outside Port Alexander, New Babylon, Babylon System, UEC Space**

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Michelle couldn't be anymore right, Ben thought to himself sitting in the Cheetah's driving seat on a road between the forest, flickering through his UNICOM bored out of his mind. So far only one team had reached the second checkpoint over the past two hours, after receiving word from Checkpoint Alpha that all four teams had left and heading his way.

"What time is it now?" Sergeant Alex Hibbert asked standing in the unarmed turret section, peering out in the direction of the forest through a pair of electro-binoculars.

"Fourteen oh eight" Ben read from the timer on his wrist device.

"Wonder what's taking them so long" The Marine Corps Sergeant mused aloud still watching out for the late teams arrival. It had been nearly three days since they arrived at the Outer Colony of New Babylon and already Ben was not taking a liking to staying on the mining colony. It wasn't the world itself, quite the opposite the place was a gem however things didn't start off on the right foot before they even left Valhalla.

On the journey to the most populated Outer Colony of the UEC, some of the guys of his regiment did exactly what Captain Fisher advised them not to do and clashed with some of the marines. It wasn't anything serious other than exchange of verbal abuse and throwing a few objects at each other. All the same they received a firm warning from Captain Pires over their conduct.

Upon arrival they boarded Buzzard dropships who dropped them off at the local spaceport, to be greeted by officials of the local government. They were then lead to a makeshift base from an old factory district on the outskirts of the capital Port Alexander, which was to be their new home for God knows how long and not only that it was to be a shared between the 115th and a detachment of marines from the _Amazon_ , much to the disgruntlement of his fellow soldiers.

Then it came to meeting the Colonial Militia and as expected the part timers didn't look a promising bunch. Most of them were miners, dock workers or police officers, the only ones who at least had some sense of discipline and respect to their superiors.

"So Howard, how long has that hybrid girl been in your regiment?"

"Just over a year, why?" He turned to him, giving a frown as he expected an offence comment like she had got from a number of marines on the trip here.

"No need to get defensive Corporal, I'm not discriminating against her unlike those idiots in A company. It's just the first time I've seen one not in a Cloven dominated unit" Hibbert glanced down briefly to him then back to the search.

"Her old man was Army and a big influence in her decision making. She could of followed in her mum's footsteps and joined the Cloven Commandos but said it wasn't to her liking" A loud whistle escaped from Hibbert's mouth at the mention of the most feared military unit of the UECAF.

"Damn, doesn't take long to know who wore the pants in her household" Ben gave short laugh at the joke then went back to his UNICOM, reading through the news reports on any further developments of the mysterious troubles on the Chimera's borders. So far there was nothing but speculation and guesswork on what the uglies were preoccupied with since they hadn't exactly been forthcoming.

Debates ranging from the more believable attacks from the Purists remnants to a possible invasion of the Commonwealth which Ben had a hard time believing. Whatever it was, it must be something bad for the Chimera not to so much as say a word about it.

"What about you Howard, you seem pretty relaxed to be around a leatherneck" Ben was pretty sure he was smirking behind the binoculars at the widely used nickname given to the Commonwealth Marine Corps.

"I can say the same to you Sarge"

"We may be rivals but at the end of the day, we all fight to keep humanity safe from the evils of the galaxy"

"My mum was a marine, so I know that not _all_ of you are a bad bunch" He smirked as he thought of home, thinking momentarily of his last visit to Earth.

"Glad to know we're of the same mindset" The marine NCO said tinkering with the sights "Well, well, well"

"What?"

"See for yourself" Hibbert passed down the electro-binoculars, nodding over to the trees as Ben picked up the faint sound of voices. He took the binoculars and peered through to where the marine sergeant had indicated catching sight of seven people emerging from the trees in full kit except for their helmets, three of which he recognised with a mix of emotions on their faces.

All teams were a mix of soldiers, marines and militia participating in 'team building' exercise put together by Colonel Hall and head of the marine detachment Major Demir. The original plan was for to have four teams of seven to complete a four hour trek without the use of UNICOMs, helmet assistance or any digital device, using instead an paper map and compass like they did in the old days. So far it wasn't planning out to be a great idea.

"They don't look happy"

" _Mijn God_ , don't you ever shut up!" One of the marines of the group growled to Victor and a colonial militia private, who ignored him and carried on chin wagging.

"That's an understatement" Ben lowered the binoculars, tapping on his UNICOM at them as they closed in "You're late"

"No thanks to Columbus here" Michelle pointed to a militiaman holding the map and compass in his hands.

"We could of got here earlier if you went up that hill I suggested" The same militiaman threw back in defence.

"The same hill that so happens to be a abandoned mine prone to sinkholes?"

"Are you guys finished?" Hibbert spoke over the arguing squad "Did you get the first code from Checkpoint Alpha?" He feigned ignorance, already knowing full well that they had done so.

"All six numbers. Nat has them" Michelle nodded over to her, producing a note from one of her ammo pouches.

"Ok Howard, give them the next six digit code and then send 'em on their way"

"Can you keep these two with you Sarge" The same marine from before pleaded, receiving snorts from the offended pair.

"Sorry Vorm but if you all don't arrive back to base together, you fail the exercise" The marine sighed muttering curses in Dutch, getting a sympathetic look from Michelle who tapped his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I have few ideas that might shut the talkative couple up until we get back"

"Ready Nat?" She gave a nod placing the pen's tip on the paper note "Zero, five, three, seven, nine, two"

"Nine, two. Yep got it" She scribbled the numbers on the note packing it back into the pouch once she got the last number.

"Team one is ahead of you and most likely at Checkpoint Charlie by now. If you hurrying you might be able to catch up to them before reaching Checkpoint Delta"

"Let's get going then, see ya Corp" The team left them with mix enthusiasm, trudging their way back into the forest behind the Cheetah.

"I pity Vic and that private"

"Why's that Howard?" The Sarge turned raising a brow.

"Whatever Michelle has conjured for those two, you can guarantee will keep them as quiet as a mouse for the rest of the journey"

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 **Command Bridge,** _ **Marauder-**_ **class cruiser** _ **Amazon**_ **, New Babylon orbit**

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Lieutenant commander Eiji Moto was reading the last bits of the report on the installation of anti ship batteries on the colony below, standing by the view window amidst the mundane activity on the Bridge. At first he was as curious as the rest of the crew when he saw the mass drivers being loading into the hangar bay before their departure, until Captain Fisher told them they were for the defence of the colony world their cruiser was currently on protection duty to.

The New Babylonian government had requested for the big guns and an extra military presence to be established on the planet because their Member of Parliament was one of the large group of MPs representing the Outer Colonies, voicing opposition at the apparent bias of protection given to the Inner Colonies. This was always a notion spoke about in the Commonwealth Parliament that had been ignored for years until recently, leading to much debate and rumours amongst the crew over the sudden change of heart of the UECAF high command to give the Colonies what they wanted.

Due to New Babylon being the most populated Outer Colony with over four million inhabitants, it was chosen to have the greatest defence out of the hundred or so worlds on the frontier of UEC space. Eiji gave the taskforce it's credit, it was an impressive force to come up against if somebody were to invade the system. Besides the soon to be operational surface anti ship batteries, a whole Army regiment and a battalion of Marines to fight a hypothetical ground war, a squadron of nine ships were assigned to patrol the Babylon system. More was supposedly on the way.

Along with the _Amazon_ there was the two _Geneva_ -class destroyers the _Prague_ and the _Canberra_ and six _Scimitar_ -class frigates _Fury_ , _Knife's Edge_ , _Shadow Fist_ , _Grim Strike_ , _Jumping Leaper_ and _Dagger's Tip_. The whole second fleet was split and spread out to different systems within close proximity to each other, an order that was unpopular but none the less obeyed.

Officially the Premier and the command board of the UECAF had come out stating it was a new strategical and tactical plan to prove it was capable of defending all of humanity's territories, unofficial however it was believed they were on high alert. The junior officers and shipmen and woman had guessed it was to do with whatever had got the Imperials spooked, explaining the increase of the military manoeuvring in all sectors.

Professionally Eiji distanced himself from all the gossip from the others, telling them not to listen to hearsay but deep down he was just as sceptical about their mission as they were. The sound of the doors to the Bridge opening up to changed his attention to the in walking Captain Fisher, making his way over to combat holo projector centred in the middle of the Bridge.

"Captain-san" He greeted his superior, walking over to him.

"Eiji, anything to report?"

"The _Canberra_ and the _Shadow Fist_ have returned from their sweeps around the system. Chief Engineer Ivanov has reported the AS guns are near to completion and should be operational tomorrow" Eiji handed over the datapad he was reading to Fisher.

"Good, that should keep MP Donaldson off my back for now unless-"

"Captain, sensors picking up an anomaly by the third moon" An Ensign called over from her control screen.

"What kind of an anomaly?" They both made their way over to the reporting Ensign, Eiji observing the radar readings on her assigned screen.

"Unknown energy readings appeared a few seconds ago with a bogey signature before disappearing just now"

"Could be a glitch" The Captain suggested at the clear readings on her screen.

"There it is again sir" Eiji saw a red dot labelled unknown by the computer's inability to identify the strange object moving above the third moon, Adapa.

"Interesting. Silva do we have anyone out there?" Fisher turned to Lieutenant on the other side of the combat projector.

"The _Prague_ is the closest sir, she's orbiting the first moon but hasn't reported sending any personnel or equipment out there"

"Request the _Prague_ to send a couple of fighters to investigate"

"Yes Captain" He spoke into his headset relaying the Captain's orders to the destroyer. Eiji saw the Captain had formed a puzzling expression on his face, staring at the screen as if he was trying to work out a problem.

"Is there something wrong Captain-san?"

"You ever had one of those gut feelings when something unexpected is going to happen?"

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"That's the last of them" Hibbert announced as Ben watched the last team leave with the code and toddle off toward the forest again.

"Wonder if the others have reached Checkpoint Delta yet" He said climbing into the drive seat of the Cheetah and starting it up.

"Let's find out" The marine unhooked the wireless communicator from the radio set "This is Checkpoint Bravo to Checkpoint Delta, have you come into contact with any of the teams yet?, over"

" _Checkpoint Delta to Checkpoint Charlie, teams one and two have arrived and racing to the finishing line as we speak, over_ "

"Hey Dan, is Victor still walking?" A chuckle came over the comm in response.

" _Yeah but he hardly said a word. One of the colonial privates in their team said he and Modric kept walking into 'accidents' on the way here. It didn't take much figuring out who was responsible with the shit eating grins from Colton and some marine called Vorm_ "

"We're heading back to base, the last team is making their to Charlie now. See you guys when you get back, over and out" Cutting the link Hibbert put the communicator pack in the socket, so Ben began putting his foot on the peddle "Appears your friend kept to her promise"

"Get on Michelle's bad side and she can make you suffer. Modric isn't a bad guy, he just a bloody pain in the arse ninety five percent of the time"

"I can believe that, every unit has one of those types" He replied back as they drove back to base.

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 _ **Valkyrie**_ **1, en route to** **Adapa moon, New Babylon**

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Dodging a stray rock past the second moon, the pilot of _Valkyrie_ 1 flew his _Reaper_ Strike Fighter toward the co-ordinates of the reported suspicious activity picked up by the _Amazon_ 's sensors. Alongside him was _Valkyrie_ 3 flying close by contacting him over the comm.

"Valkyrie 3 _to_ Valkyrie 1, _do you know what they have us searching for out here sir?_ "

"Sensors on the _Amazon_ picked up a bogey moving around the third moon"

" _So why hasn't the_ Prague _picked it up as well?_ "

"They have, that's why we're investigating _Valkyrie_ 3\. Keep an eye on your scanners" The conversation ended there and the pilots went back to the duty of finding the cause of the anomaly. Both swept across the barren, rocky moon taking different flight paths, _Valkyrie_ 1 going around the equator whilst _Valkyrie_ 3 took the vertical flight from the moon's south pole to its north.

"Have your scans picked up anything?"

" _Negative, nothing on the scopes_ " The three dimensional radar in his cockpit came up with the same results, nothing but rock formations and space dust filling the screen.

"Amazon _control to_ Valkyrie _flight, have you found the source of the anomaly yet?_

"Negative _Amazon_ , nothing out here but dirt and rock"

" _Ok, finish your sweep then head back to-_ "

" _This is_ Valkyrie 3 _to_ Amazon _control_ , _an unknown ship has just left the moon's surface!. On intercept course_ " The shocked voice of his wingman shouted through the comm.

" _Valkyrie_ 1 to _Valkyrie_ 3, hold up I'm on my way" Pulling on the throttle and maximising thrust he sped toward _Valkyrie_ 3's position, which appeared to be racing away from the moon's orbit. When he caught up he saw the ship in question being tailed by _Valkyrie_ 3 trying to fly away from them.

"Valkyrie _flight, report_ "

"We currently trailing the unknown ship _Amazon_ control. Loading camera optics now"

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 **CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, New Babylon orbit**

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Eiji stood around the combat projector table next to Fisher, staring at the blue and white holo image of strange insect shaped spacecraft no bigger than a shuttle trying to outrun the two fighters. Everybody's eyes in room were now focused on the chase.

" _To unknown ship, you are in UEC control space. Identify yourselves or you will be seized and taken in for questioning_ " The voice of _Valkyrie_ 1 came through the speakers, sending a warning to the unidentified ship. No reply came back from the intruder.

" _I repeat to unknown vessel, you are in-_ "

" _Sir!, I'm picking up a high energy reading coming from the ship"_ The panicking voice of _Valkyrie_ 3 came next, followed by the ship quickly vanishing from view.

" _What the, where the hell did it go?_ "

" _Did it jump to FTL?_ "

" _I didn't see a FTL window open_ "

" _Valkyrie_ Flight return to base, send all data to control" Fisher ordered the two bewildered pilots back, reversing back the recording of the strange ship. The holo projection rotated the vessel clockwise in the centre of the table abling them to have a more detailed look over it.

"I never seen a ship like that before" A Sub lieutenant said gazing at the rotating holo image.

"Could it be a new Purist design" Silva came up with a speculated answer over the visitor.

"Maybe, but the architecture of their ships is same as that of the Imperials. This is something completely different" Eiji mused getting a hum of from the Captain, who seemed to agree with his assessment.

"Question is what was it doing here?" He questioned out loud, examining the many possibilities to that answer.

"Uh sir?" The same Ensign who had first alerted them to the mysterious bogey called to the surrounding observers "I'm picking up more energy readings, a lot more" No sooner had her sentence finished new ships suddenly appeared around the Adapa moon. Eiji and everyone on the Bridge was taken aback by the new arrival of unknown ships that had came from nowhere, now positioning themselves into Adapa's orbit and moving their way toward the CSF ships.

By the Ancestors, the Second in command exclaimed to himself.

"Sir, bogeys are scanning us and closing in at three hundred thousand kilometres" Another voice near the control panels on the far end of the Bridge reported.

The holo projector was now lighting up the new arrivals counting up to 12 ships in total and in all different shapes and sizes. Six of them were semi-circular in design and had a spine sticking out at the back with wing like extensions on the side, only a couple of hundred metres shorter than a destroyer. The next ones Eiji studied were oddly shaped and looked as if somebody just through a pile of junk together and stuck some engines at the back, counting at least three of them and were the same length as a destroyer.

They surrounded a centre ship which Eiji guested to be the command vessel, their counterpart. It appeared similar to that of an old submarine but had two long spines at the back with what he best described as a 'beak' at the front. Behind all those was two other ships with horizontal domes attached to a centre support, showing no evidence of weapon emplacements unless they were hidden away.

"Moto, link all ships and tell them to ready battlestations just incase this goes tits up. Then send an alert to both to command, our forces on the ground and the New Babylon government" Fisher ordered him, not keeping his eyes off the unknown fleet.

"Yes sir" He pulled up a touch screen keyboard and screen from the projected, typing in the ordered alert message to the concerned parties.

"Ensign, establish a line to the lead ship"

"Yes Captain" A feminine acknowledged him, giving him a thumbs up a few seconds later.

"This it people. Keep quiet and let's hope this goes well" Fisher said aloud to everybody on the Bridge "To unidentified ships, you are in United Earth Commonwealth territory. Identify yourselves and state your business in this system" No reply came but the challenge had some effect as the new fleet halted their approach.

"They could be having trouble understanding us" Eiji reasoned for the lack of vocal response.

"Perhaps" Fisher was thinking over the likely explanation "I repeat to unidentified ships, you are in United Earth Commonwealth space. Identify yourselves and explain your presence in this system" A few more quiet seconds went by from Fisher's repeated warning with no response.

"Maybe-"

" _This is Admiral Laden of the Separatist Alliance Navy, to whom am I speaking?_ "


	6. Opening Hostilities

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 **CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, New Babylon orbit, UEC Space**

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Everybody including Eiji were taken by surprise by the voice that came through the speakers on table, the accent like that of a southwest American type. Before the Captain could come up with a reply the holo projector lit up a holographic form of a human male, replacing the fleet of ships that had just entered in the system.

"I am Captain Christopher Fisher of the Commonwealth Space Fleet. Please repeat where you are from?" He asked in confusion by the man's alleged origins.

" _The Separatist Alliance or the Confederacy of Independent Systems, whatever takes you liking. I must say I wasn't expecting to find a human world this far out into the Unknown Regions_ " His statement caused a few eyebrows to raise over the bizarre claim, and the name this Admiral Laden called this region of space. Eiji scrutinised the unfamiliar Admiral appearing before them. He looked to be in his mid to late 30s and had a notable hook, shaped scar running on the side of his face.

All other features were difficult to make out from the bluish/white hologram, besides the less decorative uniform compared to what he and all the other CSF Naval officers wore.

"Strange indeed. But again Admiral, I must ask what is your business here?" Fisher continued to persist of this mysterious Admiral's intentions

" _I've come to stake a claim in this world Captain_ "

"Stake a claim?"

" _Yes, Captain Fisher is it?. The Separatist Alliance are in need of this world_ " A chill of dread crept up Eiji's back and alarm bells were starting to ring in his head at the tone and manner Laden had put forth his words.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Admiral but you're a few centuries too late. This world is a colony of the United Earth Commonwealth. Perhaps you can move on to another that isn't populated and doesn't belong to another government"

" _Funny you should say that. Anyway Captain, this world here is of great strategic value to us in this region. I must demand that you stand aside. If you are worried about the safety of the populace below, you have nothing to fear. We'll take good care of them_ " It took a bit to stop himself from laughing at the Admiral's incredible 'request' and judging by what Eiji could see, everyone else on the reaction Bridge matched his view.

"Is this guy for real?" Someone muttered around the display.

"No Admiral we will not _stand aside_. I don't know who the hell you are or where you come from but despite your careful attempts to hide it, it's sounds as if you're in some sort of conflict. The last thing I'm going to let you do is come here and bring your troubles to my people's doorstep. I suggest you leave Admiral, before either of us will do something we'll regret"

" _Is that a threat_ Captain _?. By the orders of Count Dooku, I am to claim this world whether your government agrees or not and the Count always gets his way_ " The impatient Laden tried his best to intimidate the Captain but Eiji could see there was no way Fisher was going to back down from such a buffoon.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint your superior _Admiral_ , but you are not setting one foot on this world. This is your last warning" With a hard glare Fisher returned the gesture of intimidation, locking his eyes on the arrogant fool.

With a glare of his own and what many would consider a spine chilling smile, Admiral Laden spoke down to the Captain " _So be it_ " His hologram quickly then disappeared. For a brief moment everyone on the Bridge were at a loss for words. Eiji was lost in the thought that they may have just brought their people into a war against an alien government.

Shaking his mind out of his stupor he was the first to utter a word from the stunned crew.

"Captain-san" He said breaking the Captain out of his musing. He watched Fisher eyes scan around the Bridge at the mix of bewilderment and fear on the faces of the men and women of the _Amazon_ , the feelings that was most likely mirrored across both this ship and the rest of the small fleet. The Captain then stood up straight and got to work.

"We best get ready people. Signal all ships to fall into formation and to power up their weapons and shields. Silva, send messages to both Command back home on what we're up against and ground forces to stand by for a possible invasion."

"Yes sir"

"I want all fighters and bombers ready to deploy" Everybody did as they were ordered, all the fear Eiji saw a moment ago was now gone and replaced with calm professionalism.

"Sir!, the enemy are closing in and we've got incoming fighters heading our way" One sailor called over to him, reading off his screen at the multiple images of hostile targets.

"Tell the fighter pilots they have permission to deploy, bombers are to stay back until the enemy is within range" He gave the order, letting Fisher study the enemy movements. The smaller semi circular ships were now shifting to surround the main cruiser acting as frigates, the remainder spread themselves out further into two squadrons.

"Captain message from Command. Reinforcements are en route, hold them off as long as you can" Lieutenant Silva relayed the incoming message from a screen off the projector table.

"Are we still linked to the other ships Silva?"

"Yes Captain"

"To all ships this is Captain Fisher, we've received word that help is on the way. In the meantime pick your targets and make sure that not one of these bastards gets by us"

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 _ **Valkyrie**_ **1, intercept course to enemy fighters**

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Leading his squadron against an unexpected attack from new found enemy hostiles was not what _Valkyrie_ 1 had on his agenda today. Then again neither was chasing an alien ship from the system. All around him were fellow pilots from _Valkyrie_ wing and other squadrons from the other ships, piloting their _Reapers_ strike fighters toward the on rushing 'Separatist Alliance' starfighters.

His flight were in a V formation and the heads up display in his cockpit showed all systems were green. The sensors picked up the enemy movement, calculating they were at least outnumbered two to one.

"Alright _Valkyries_ stand by and pick your targets"

" _Valkyrie_ 3 target locked"

" _Valkyrie_ 2 target locked"

" _Valkyrie_ 7, got 'em in my sights" The rest of his squadron confirmed weapons lock waiting for the enemy fighters to get a little more closer. The crosshair on his HUD remained green for a few more agonising seconds, ticking away waiting for the lock on to change red. Only a second later to his relief the crosshair changed colour.

"Fire away!" Simultaneously the precision guided missiles of all the defending starfighters launched into the empty expanse between the combatants. One after the other they struck their mark brightening the dark space with fire from the detonating missiles blowing apart the incoming fighter craft.

 _Valkyrie_ 1 felt a sense of satisfaction at watching so many blow up before his eyes however, it niggled at him that none of them undertook any maneuvers to dodge the tidal wave of destruction. The scanners showed their numbers had dwindled down to more equal odds as they closed in ot each other.

Blasts of red poured down at his squadron and the surrounding fighters, missing him by a whisker but had clipped several other _Reaper_ s either causing them to slow their approach or destroying them outright.

" _Damn the bastards have lasers!_ " _Valkyrie_ 5 called out over the comm.

"Evasive maneuvers!" _Valkyrie_ 1 twisted his fighter to avoid the oncoming fire, managing to catch a glimpse of the alien craft racing by him. He got a better view of the unusual starfighters when he banked his _Reaper_ to meet the opposing force. They were curved in design and coloured in shades of grey and black, the 'head' centred at the back of the body had two red 'eyes' staring back at him.

Drones?, He thought for a second before pressing onto the centre button of his joystick, letting rip the 30mm cannons and tearing the machine fighter to shreds.

"Valkyrie7 to Valkyrie 1, _is it me or are these things self controlled?_ "

"Copy that 7, we've got drone fighters" He confirmed to his fellow pilot knowing the chatter would of been picked up by their ship for further intelligence of the newcomers. Flashes of energy fire, cannon rounds and missile vapor filled his outside view of the cockpit, the CSF pilots all around him locked into dogfights with the new foes.

" _Sir, we have bogeys breaking off and heading to the fleet_ " His HUD singled out the owner's voice as _Valkyrie_ 4.

"Roger that. _Valkyrie_ 4, _Valkyrie_ 3 with me. The rest of you clear the sky of these junk heaps" He ordered the rest of squadron breaking off from the battle with 4 and 3 falling in with him. A glance outside the cockpit _Valkyrie_ 1 spotted another flight follow suit in the direction of the drone fighters moving over to the defending CSF warships.

The automated tracker on his HUD picked out a target and immediately the crosshair turned red. He didn't hesitate for second when he pulled the trigger.

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The raging battle outside between the fighter complement of both sides was all Eiji could focus on. Seeing the 30mm rounds and missiles from _Reaper_ strike fighters and AA guns spouting from the CSF ships lighting up the space around them, tearing apart the machine like fighter craft. The first shots of a new war.

"Captain, the enemy ships are closing in at two hundred thousand kilometres." An Ensign manning one the weapon consoles informed them.

"Only fifty thousand away from acceptable range. Hold it-"

"Incoming fire!" Flashes of red raced down from the Separatist Alliance ships, not accurate fire but some rounds managed to hit a few of the CSF defenders. The _Amazon_ got the brunt of the opening volley, causing everybody onboard to stagger and hold on to anything near by to regain balance. They weren't alone in the opening attack as the shields of the _Dagger's Tip_ shimmered from a barrage of shots and the _Prague_ had several rounds colliding into her forward section, not enough to bring her shields down thankfully.

"What was that?" Fisher turned to the officers at weapons control consoles, who were skimming through the data the computer was detailing of the opening attack.

"Plasma based weaponry sir, and it's powerful. Our shields are down to 92 percent" The other Ensign at weapons control reported back the computer's readings.

"They're in acceptable range now sir" Eiji confirmed the weapons range from a nearby console, numbers running up and down the screen for targeting distances, recharge percentage and the like.

"All ships fire!" The front of the _Amazon_ and all the CSF ships showed the powering up of their main gun, the Particle Beam Cannon. Eiji knew the cruiser had the advantage over its fellow compatriots in that the _Amazon_ possessed two of them, compared to the others who only had one but nevertheless all had a mighty kick to them. A build up of yellow energy from the barrels was briefly shown before within a blink of an eye, the yellow beams blasted out toward their unfortunate targets.

Eiji and the other personnel of the CSF defenders watched in anticipation as all shots hit their mark. The _Amazon_ 's own two blasts smashed right into a frigate to the starboard side of the lead ship, turning it into nothing but exploding debris. The beam shots from the destroyers took out two more frigates whilst their own frigates left one adrift after having, what Eiji presumed, it's Bridge blown off and the rest with visible signs they had taken some hefty damage.

"Give the bombers permission to deploy. Order them to target all remaining frigates. Bring the mass drivers to bear on the ships defending the lead cruiser and fire two salvos of torpedoes at the flagship" The orders were carried out without question. Eiji knew it was a tactic to take out the support ships to give them a better chance to concentrate on battling the enemy cruisers, or holding them off until the reinforcements arrived.

The sight of mass driver rounds filled up the view window, firing from the light and medium sized guns pouring down to the Separatist Alliance ships. The torpedoes launched from the pods below the bow racing through the fray, avoiding the electromagnetic projectiles firing away at the opposing ships.

"Captain, the _Knife's Edge_ and _Dagger's Tip_ are sustaining heavy damage, they request permission to-" Silva's sentence was cut short by the mid section of the _Dagger's Tip_ breaking apart unable to withstand the concentrated fire. The _Scimitar_ class frigate blew apart with chunks of it's titanium hull drifting off in different directions, pieces hitting off the nearby _Jumping Leaper_ and _Canberra._

"Good God, those poor souls" Someone said aghast amongst the shocked faces. Eiji gave a quick inward pray to the hundreds of soul that had just perished before his eyes.

"Uh sir, the _Knife's Edge_ is requesting it disengage and repair its shield generators" Silva relayed the message, visibly horrified by the loss of a ship he was just going to mention in his report.

"Tell them to take cover behind the _Prague_ and hurry the hell up!" It wasn't to be unexpected to lose ships in a battle but it still visibly angered the Captain to see a ship and colleagues under his command snuffed out right before his own eyes.

One of the Separatists oddly shaped cruisers was advancing ahead of the enemy fleet along with it's remaining support ship, with the obvious intent to try and outflank them.

"Order the _Canberra_ and the _Fury_ to intercept those ships" His orders relayed, Eiji joined the Captain in watching the destroyer and frigate break away from formation and head out to meet the approaching pair.

The _Canberra_ traded fire with the cruiser while the _Fury_ unleashed a barrage of _Crossbow_ missiles toward the opposite frigate, the quick dispatch of smoke showing the missile trails. The enemy frigate showed it hadn't recovered from the earlier attack from the particle cannons, so it didn't take long for the missiles to bring down its defences and sections began to explode and become engulfed in flames.

The _Fury_ 'smain gun was building up and ready to finish off it's prey when three large red plasma rounds smashed into the front section of the _Fury_ from the crippled ship. Another blast slammed into the bow of the CSF frigate depleting its shields and tore into the titanium hull, though it wasn't enough to stop oncoming yellow particle beam shooting across and putting the grief stricken ship out of it's misery.

The victory was short lived as a volley of well placed shots from the other cruiser smashed into the damaged frigate, gutting the _Fury_ leaving it listing and dead in space. The offending cruiser was now exchanging fire with the _Canberra_ in a old style broadside attack much like a 19th century ship of the line.

Crimson high energy plasma bolts and amber electromagnetic slugs were exchanged between the dueling vessels, ripping into each other like two beasts battling for supremacy. The _Canberra_ 's shields held for a time but eventual whittled away and had its hull integrity tested by the enemy's high energy shots slamming into its side sections.

In kind the _Geneva_ class destroyer opened up its missile pods and unleashed a torrent of firepower into the Separatist ship. The light, medium and heavy mass drivers brought down the cruiser's shields allowing the missiles to hit vulnerable and exposed parts. Eiji watched the back support beam of the cruiser crack then bend at the multiple missile hits, breaking off and floating away from the main body of the ship.

The _Canberra_ finally avenged the _Fury_ by sending a wave of missiles into the now unshielded hangar bay, destroying the enemy vessel in quite the explosive fashion.

"Particle Beam Cannons are at hundred percent charge" The voice of one the Ensigns at weapons control brought him back to the main battle.

"Aim for the remaining support ships then bare everything on the flagship" The Captain ordered, observing the bombing run on the twin dome ships at the back of the enemy fleet. The _Knife's Edge_ had now return to the battle and it too was firing it's Particle Beam Cannon at the invaders, cutting into one of two remaining frigates.

From originally being outnumbered to defeating a surprisingly powerful and unknown foe at the cost of two of their own ships, it felt somewhat pleasing to the Lieutenant commander. The main guns of the _Amazon_ tore into the last escorting cruiser and turned it into another collection of floating junk, leaving just Laden's flagship and the soon to be gone dome ships.

"Captain, the lead ship is halting its advance" Navigation announced as they all witnessed the last enemy ships stop making a beeline to their position but were continuing to fire down at them.

"We've shown our teeth and now they are worried" Were the confident words of Eiji, backed by the other officers around the display table.

"Maybe so Lieutenant commander" A flash of an exploding enemy fighter from a _Reaper_ sweeping by lit up the Bridge, leaving the rest of the crew to shake hands at the apparent victory over this Separatist Alliance invaders.

"Sir we've got more incoming!"

"Friendly?"

"No sir, over twenty more contacts detected behind the enemy fleet" The junior officer's words barely left her mouth when 22 more ships appeared alongside Admiral Laden's flagship.

"God almighty" Fisher's eyes grew like saucers at the new arrivals. More of the same types of ships stared from across the other side of the battle, with the exception of a large bulbous, circular ship now dominating the fleet.

"What do we do sir?" Eiji quizzed in his ears, along with everybody waiting for his response. Heavily outnumbered and outgunned there was only two possible options, fight or retreat.

"We are not abandoning those on the ground, is that understood?" The burning determination in Fisher's eyes told him and the others around him that this wasn't up for debate.

"By your order Captain-san" The tension in the room was of nerves and fear but duty overid the unwelcome emotions.

"We must hold on until the rest of Second fleet can get here"

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 **Port Alexander, New Babylon, Planetside**

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The normally busy streets of Port Alexander were a flurry of activity of a different kind. Thousands of troops, marines and militia were scurrying around setting up defensive positions and putting up weapon emplacements for the inevitable invasion.

"Hey Ben, what's made everyone more edgey?" Michelle asked walking over to his position, holding her rifle loosely in one hand as he piled up the last sandbag on top of newly created machine gun nest.

"I don't know" Ben said taking a ganders around the row of shops that were being converted into makeshift fortifications. He then spotted Henrik power walking past them and called out to him "Sarge, what's going on?"

"The _Amazon_ has reported more hostiles have entered the system. There's a very high chance they won't be able to fight them off this time" Their conversation was interrupted by two Prowlers rushing down the end of the street "Make sure everyone's ready Howard, I've got a feeling we've got a tough fight ahead of us" Henrik then left them and carried on walking at a fast pace in the same direction as the Prowlers.

"Do they even know who it is that the urchins are shooting up, up there?" She pointed up to the sky, presumably where the Navy were scraping it out with the enemy.

"It ain't the Purists that for sure"

"How do you know?" Natalie jumped over the machine gun nest then stood in front of him with her arms crossed.

"I spoke with Captain Pires about half an hour ago and he said the copied transmission they got from the _Amazon_ showed they were dealing with humans"

"Legion?"

"Nope. They called themselves the Separatist Alliance, or something like that"

"They're probably an offshoot of the Legion" Dan came over with Victor to join in with the speculation of this new enemy they were soon to come up against.

"Since when did a bunch of _pola dupeta_ terrorists get their hands on battle ready spaceships?" Victor snorted at the idea.

"Guys listen, whoever the hell the CSF are fighting up there it isn't Legion. Now come on, we've got to make sure this area's secure enough in case our new _friends_ show up" Taking one last look up at the battle raging above their heads, Ben lead his squad down the other end of the street. Four Widowmaker tanks rolled by them turning off at a road in the direction of the Alexander leisure centre being used as a base of operations.

"You know I think the Sarge is right" Michelle said aloud to the group "We're gonna have a tough fight ahead of us"


	7. Battle of New Babylon part I

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 **CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, New Babylon orbit, UEC Space**

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The situation had just gone from bad to worse for the crew of the _Amazon_ , as well as the rest of the defending CSF ships. Eiji was still stunned by the enemy fleet's new support which now dwarfed them in numbers and firepower.

"Silva, what is the ETA of our reinforcements?" The Captain requested keeping his eyes on the new arrivals.

"Thirty minutes sir"

"Let's hope we can hold out for that long" The enemy's own reinforcements had yet to open fire, to Eiji's and no doubt the Captain's own curiosity. They pressed on bearing down on them and what seemed to a encirclement manoeuvre.

"Gunners, concentrate the heavy drivers and _Crossbow_ missiles on Laden's ship"

"Sir, three enemy vessels are breaking off and heading for the surface"

"There's nothing we can do for them now. They'll just have to fend off for themselves until back up arrives"

"Let us hope Ivanov has the anti ship batteries functioning for the defence of the city" The Lieutenant-commander commented, hoping it was the case.

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 **Port Alexander, Planetside, New Babylon**

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" _Here they come!_ " Colonel Hall's voice echoed in Ben's and every other soldier of the 115th's built in helmet earpiece as unfamiliar spacecraft flew over Port Alexander. Three large ships he had never seen before were hovering above the capital, splitting up and flying over to different sectors of the city.

"Who the hell are these guys?"

"Looks like were about to find out" He pointed up to the spaceships, as contingents of smaller craft came out of the sides of the enemy vessels. Blasts of red were firing out from two different fighter sized types, one half were curved and possessed wings resembling sharp ended, horizontal Hs and the others was at his best description were three fingered clawed shaped with a ball centred in the middle.

Some were shooting at the buildings while the others did strafing runs at numerous positions around the city, explosions and the echoing sound of people dying or hit by enemy fire were visible and witnessed by all in Port Alexander. In kind rounds of anti aircraft fire was blazing up to the attackers, Prowlers heavy chainguns and AA turrets aiming at the low flying fighters attempting to destroy or bring them down.

"Get out of the streets!" A Marine Lieutenant shouted to those standing in the open, followed by a trio of hostile aircraft soaring over to their direction. Ben dived into a alleyway between two nearby shops for clothing and electrical gizmos with Victor and Michelle right behind him.

Unfortunately not everyone got away in time as he watched four marines and a militiaman get cut down right before his eyes. The red laser rounds from the enemy crashed further along the road before speeding away from his position. Breaking from cover Ben searched around for Dan and Natalie, finding them coming out of a cafe from across the street unharmed.

"Everyone ok?"

"We're good unlike those poor bastards" The Lance Corporal pointed over to the slain bodies laying still on the now scorched marked road. Two marines went over to the bodies to check for any possible signs of life, only to find as presumed none. Gathering his squad around keeping alert for anymore fighters that were lingering around their location.

"We need to link up with the rest of the 115th"

"Last I heard they were split between defending the leisure centre and the school district five clicks from here" Michelle tapped on her UNICOM, bringing up a miniature map of the city highlighting the positions of UECAF activity.

"The leisure centre is where Colonel Hall has set up his base of operations so we'll head there and stick to covering on the way, got it?" They all nodded readying their weapons "Lets go" Ben took point following the route the HUD in his visor directed him and his squad to.

Gunfire rang all over the city, the roar of bullets and the whine of enemy space fighters soaring above the sky striking against the forces on the ground kept Ben and his fellow troops alert. Several times they passed troops of their regiment, the marine detachment and New Babylon's Colonial Militia taking cover behind an assortment of cover, a few equipped with Wildfire MRLs trying to get a proper lock on peering down the launchers scopes at the fast moving flyers.

He almost floored a running civilian who hadn't yet to reach the shelters outside the city limits, just a one of many running down the heavily UECAF present street.

" _Khristos_ , didn't these fools listen to warning sirens?!" Natalie had cursed through the comm, dodging a group of people barging past her in panic.

"They must've thought it was just another emergency drill" The suggestion from Victor was most likely the true reason the Corporal pondered. At the end of the street was the plaza, a huge open ground with a 10 metre statue surrounded by a water fountain. A view Ben would of guessed to have been pleasing to look at in a busy city but now occupied by half a dozen Cheetahs and a squad of Prowlers tracking and firing up at the invaders.

Commands and weapons fire from the military machines were all that could heard from the area, bullets of different calibres and the clanging of the Prowlers missile pods letting loose their deadly payloads to any unfortunate target. Ben caught sight of five onrushing curve fighters bearing down on the plaza, spitting out red laser bolts to the collection of IFVs.

One had it's left wing clipped by chaingun bullets but still raced downward despite fire and smoke pouring out of it. A missile then struck into the middle of the wounded fighter splitting it in two, the resulting debris dropped like rock spreading across the buildings below. The remaining four continued pressing ahead with the attack releasing a volleys of laser bolts on the scout walkers.

Ben reached the outer rim of the plaza with his squad avoiding the torrent of energy blasts raining down on them. One Cheetah and it's crew became the first victims of the group of light armour support, blowing apart send shards of debris all over the place and ejecting it's occupants in a unsavoury fiery fashion. The Prowlers had raised their shields deflecting away the incoming fire, returning their own punishment in the shape of 15 mm rounds of AP bullets and missile salvos shooting up behind the yellow bubble like shields.

There was no need for him or the others to turn and look at the sky to know one more fighter bite the dust, thanks to the huge bang meaning someone had met their maker. Not resisting a chance to see the other results, Ben took a quick glimpse up at the sky seeing the remaining three with one spinning erratically downward toward the plaza. The other two flew over peppering the defending vehicles with half dozen crimson laser strikes before speeding off into the distance. The twirling wreck of the grief stricken third however was still continuing with it's flightpath.

"Oh shit"

"Get behind cover, now!" Ben ordered legging it with the others behind a nearby concrete wall bending around the plaza's grass garden, just in time as the screeching of metal skidding across the surface. It stopped with a clang and something big falling over as a result.

Confident they were momentarily safe for now, Ben moved out from cover with his squad following suit to a sight of a burning wreckage and a toppled statue now laying metres away from the perpetrator scattered into hundreds of pieces.

"Damn that was close" A sigh of relief escaped from Dan's mouth.

"How far is this base?"

"Three streets down that way, north east of the town hall" Michelle pointed to the six pillared building 50 metres away.

"C'mon let's get moving" AA fire kept on keeping the pressure to take down as many enemy fighter craft as possible with the five man squad passing through the recent destruction, making their to the leisure centre. Small arms fire could be heard for the first time shooting up at the sky by militia behind cover, making Ben wonder what was the point since there was only a slim chance anyone was going to bring one down with just a rifle.

The recognisable armour and dark green and brown colouring of Army fatigues with the badges of the 115th were more common sight as Ben and the others ran down the remaining streets. The leisure centre finally came into view, guarded by four Widowmakers and two Grizzly APCs by the entrance along with barricaded troops all focusing on the invaders flying all over the city.

They walked into a reception area now occupied by technicians adapting the centre's computers to portable military touch screen counterparts and other tasks. Passing a ball court further down the building Ben saw Henrik walking up the stairs leading to the gymnasium, where Colonel Hall was said to have converted it into his command post since it was the widest room out of the building.

"Sarge!" Ben shouted up to the senior NCO getting him to turn around at the squad.

"Good you're here. I was about to comm you but it looks like you've saved me a job"

"Do we know what's going on yet Sarge?"

"You've been out there Colton, even a deaf and blind mute could tell what an invasion looks like" He didn't need to have x-ray vision to know she was seething at Henrik's mocking remark "So far only three ships have been sighted around the planet and as you can see, they all hovering above our heads"

"Is the Navy holding out?"

"Only just, and latest reports have confirmed more hostiles have entered the system. Expect to facing more of these bastards" They all entered into a gymnasium, it's equipment now carelessly thrown to the sides of the room or converted into cover against the windows. The wide open space was full of personnel from the 115th, Marines, Navy and Colonial Militia hovering around laptops and holo-maps talking to their units through the microphones on the laptops or the inbuilt headsets.

The person standing out the most however was who Ben and his squad came to see, accompanied by Captain Pires and speaking somewhat civilly into the touch screen laptop.

"What the hell do you mean no air support is available, we have three goddamn ships on top our asses and enemy fighters flying freely across the city. We need your planes down here now!"

" _I'm sorry Colonel. All air units are engaged, you'll just have to make do what you have_ "

"With what, we have nothing!. The Prowlers and Widowmakers aren't designed for this shit and the dropships wouldn't stand a chance. Send us some fighters before they turn this city into crater" The video feed to the link with the cruiser for second flashed and Ben could see the man on the other side of the feed flinching at whatever was hitting the ship.

" _Until reinforcements arrive we are unable to lend support._ Amazon _out_ " Hall smashed a fist into the table the laptop had been resting on, uneasing the technician who was working on it. Gunfire and the echoing engines of the enemy fight craft speeding all over the place was all that could be heard in the now silent gym, everyone exchanging nervous glances at one another.

"Ah fuck 'em. Sub-lieutenant, has your Chief Engineer got the Mass drivers ready?"

"Ivanov has reported two out three are online. The last one took damage from enemy fire and will take some time before it's operational again"

"Good, tell him to target the nearest enemy vessel and set the targeting systems to automated and then high tail it out of there"

"Yes sir"

"Sir, Major Demir is on the line"

"Put it through" He nodded turning back to the table "Major, what is it?"

" _Colonel, we've new tangos departing from the ships. They're spreading out all over the place_ " On cue Ben watched the gymnasium begin to darken and turned to his fellow squadmates who were all looking around for the source. It quickly became clear as somebody pointed and called out toward the window, causing all the UECAF personnel to cast their eyes over to the outside view.

A tan coloured, double T shaped ship flew over the building, slowly moving closer into Port Alexander. Ben went over to the window with a few others around him for a better inspection and found more of the T craft floating over certain spots over the capital, some beginning to descend down to areas he knew to be wide open spaces.

"Well, it looks like we're gonna find out who's been gunning for us" The Colonel said taking his pistol out from its holster "Major tell your men to prepare themselves and dig in"

" _Already are sir. One has just landed no more than twenty metres from our position_ "

"To all units this Colonel Hall. Give these assholes a welcoming you only get for touching down on our turf without an invitation from the UECAF" No response came through the speakers but he was sure everyone was hyped up from the Colonel's words of encouragement "Pires, take your unit and go down to Market Square"

"Yes sir. Henrik, Howard with me" Following the Captain's lead out of the gymnasium Ben rushed out to the new location with the others right behind him. The streets and buildings were more abuzz with activity before they had entered the leisure centre, now that a ground force had landed and was soon to be upon them.

They were soon joined by two platoons worth of troops along the way, including Muller and his squad which somewhat eased Ben's mind knowing he had more good soldiers at their side. Small arms fire had now taken over the soundtrack of the battlefield as was some repetitive whining from some type of energy weapon. Above them was another T ship attempting to land but was struck by multiple hits from Prowler missile strikes, ending up with one wing tearing off and pieces of it's armour blowing off at different places. One missile must of hit a fuel pod or something vital because it soon erupted into a flames then rained down chunks of metal, causing everyone to dive out the way.

Lucky for the advancing force the majority of the debris had fallen on roof tops.

" _Govno_!" Victor cursed behind him at a piece of metal crashing mere inches from the surprised soldier.

"Come on Vic!" Michelle urged him forward. Reaching Market Square Ben saw around 11 Colonial Militia and two Grizzlies armed with scaled down Hellfire turrets manned each by one person, had taken up defensive positions in the centre of the Square.

"Muller take your guys and go up to that balcony above the fruit stall. Chandler, you take up position opposite Muller and Nat I want you take up sniping position in that bell tower" Pires pointed to the modern style church tower situated behind several shops. Taking off with her L5 Sharpshooter in one hand Ben called out to her before she was out of sight.

"Be careful Nat"

"No worries Corporal" She gave him a thumbs up then carried on running to her new spot. The Square was no bigger than 60 metres wide and was fairly open plain had it not been for the stalls and concrete beds for trees and benches, giving suitable cover for most of the soldiers taking up position in the middle of the Square.

Ben himself had taken cover in a sandbag barricade with Victor to one side and a Colonial Militiaman armed with a basic M2A5. He checked over to his right where Michelle was kneeling behind a metal framed stall and Dan stood up in the open with his finger pressing on the Hailstorm's shield generator button. Gunfire still filled his ears and the visor's readings were picking up all his squads statuses which were thankfully still green.

The gunfire grew closer and closer until he peered down the scope of his Razor and caught sight of five marines charging around the corner at the far end of the Square, firing bursts at an unknown target and received a hail of crimson back cutting one down marine who was too slow to get out of the way. They all ran the Square over to their location frantically shouting to fall back.

His eye still piercing down the scope searching for the cause of the marines retreat, the first glimpse of the invaders came into view and shocked both Ben and the soldiers around him a their new enemy.

"You have got to be kidding me" Michelle's stupefied voice rang through the comm. A whole column of skinny, sand coloured bipedal machines marched down the street aiming short calibre guns

"Robots!, we're being invaded by fucking robots" One of the gunners on the Grizzlies exclaimed in astonishment, his sentiment was shared by everyone around the Square.

"Cut the chatter. It doesn't matter who or what they are, they're purpose is to kill so make sure they don't succeed" Henrik barked, silence had again fallen on the nervous troops. More and more of the machines appeared like a never ending legion, blasting out red lasers throughout the Square. Ben noticed not once did they split up or aim their fire anywhere other than forward, giving him the impression they weren't of the smart variety.

"Just a little further" Pires advised through the comm. His own heartbeat and breathing had taken over his hearing and the skeletal robots were all he focused on, waiting for the order to fire. The seconds became almost painful to bare as a streaks of red poured down their positions managing to catch some off guard, cries of troops being hit echoed around him and footsteps of those running to help their injured comrades. His finger tightened on the trigger and eyes staring intently down the scope at one robot that came into his crosshairs, feeling as if the thing itself was staring back as it relentlessly fired down at them.

"Fire!" Pulling the trigger back at Pires command, Ben released a three shot burst at the target with calm precision. The bullets slammed home riddling the machine sending into a frenzy of sparks before hitting the ground hard. Victor and the militiaman either side of him fired off their weapons too with the Serbian having to change over from his Rossmore to the Auger for range. The high energy, radioactive bolts raced into the advancing horde of robots knocking down machine after machine, thanks to the special weapon's ability to go through solid objects until it burnt out.

The dark green subsonic energy rounds from Dan's Hailstorm was bringing the robots down in droves, as well as the yellow beam energy blasts from the Grizzlies' Hellfire turrets. Despite this more and more came, replacing the ones stacking up into a scrap pile.

"Just how many of these tin cans are there?!" The militiaman shouted, slapping in a fresh clip.

"It is as you say, a turkey shoot" Victor commented expelling an energy shield from his Auger, giving the trio more cover from the endless sea of lasers. In the corner of his eye Ben could see troops crying out in pain or falling down lifeless from being hit by multiple shots from the encroaching robots, their points of cover starting to become overrun.

" _Captain, new robots and tanks have appeared behind the others_ " Natalie's alarmed voice spoke through the link.

"Talk to me Stanovich, what've we got"

" _At least six tanks and a company's worth of a fat, silver machines_ " Ben found what Natalie had been describing down his scope, now replacing the skinny bots. Taller more bulky robots were marching behind their smaller compatriots, blasting out lasers from guns installed into their wrists. He fired another three round burst into the closest one but it didn't fall like the others instead only stumbled slightly before carrying on moving forward.

Some did go down gradually but only from concentrated fire and heavier weapons. An explosion suddenly clipped a shop near Michelle's position, only a brief second worth of screams came meaning the occupants were no more. Behind the newcomers were the tanks Natalie warned about hovering directly behind the bigger robots, their turrets swivelling around firing at any target they could find.

One turned it's thin pole like main gun at the Grizzly on the other side of the Square, recoiling back as it fired into the APC and striking it right into the driving compartment. A hole the size of a car wheel had became evident at the well placed shot then another followed in quick succession and tore the APC open, having hit the ammo feed compartment.

"God dammit you pieces you shit!" The remaining APC's gunner shouted in anger turning the Hellfire turret to bear on the tanks. The amber beams smashed into the offending tank and managed to hit the robot sticking out of the top hatch, causing the tank's main gun to swerve around like a merry go round "Yeah take that you fuckers!"

Ben loaded his third clip into his Razor and continued to fire down at the horde but it didn't bother the machines of the numbers lost on their side and carried on marching forward, cutting down troops not quick enough to move out of the now useless cover.

"Time to pull out of here. Fall back to Town Hall" Pires directed the defenders, firing off his own BM08 Razor.

"Come on, move if you want to live longer!" Sergeant Henrik encouraged the others, not that they needed much encouragement. One by one the remaining soldiers of the 115th and the last handful of Colonial Militia members fell back in an orderly fashion which they had been trained to do countless time through simulations. A dozen more were shot as they tried retreating, only a few were still standing limping away or getting support from comrades.

Since he was at the back of the defensive line Ben had to keep firing at the machines for a bit longer, having to move his line of fire more than once to avoid hitting a passing soldier. The shield of Dan's minigun started to show signs of burning out and began flashing and turning into a much lighter green.

"Dan get out of there!" He shouted to the Lance-Corporal, who reluctantly moved slowly backwards behind the remaining Grizzly, returning fire on the robots who were targeting him. Michelle was close behind letting off a 40mm grenade from her rifle, the thunk noise of it leaving the barrel and crashing into a silver machine sending it to the ground with it's front section blown inwards.

Only he, Victor and the militiaman were left now facing the oncoming horde with the engines of the Grizzly roaring behind them as it too backed away carefully.

" _Don't worry guys, I've got your backs_ " Four robots were shot down from Natalie's Deadeye's automatic lock on settings.

"Much appreciated Nat. Let's go" Vic moved from cover first, deploying two shield barriers then he and the militiaman ran from the sandbags on the trail of the rest of his unit. The Grizzly was being targeted by combined fire from the enemy tanks but the hits weren't accurate, only shaking the tough APC's gunner who was still firing the Hellfire turret.

The sound of falling robots came behind them from Natalie's superb accurate shots.

"Alright Nat, it's your turn to get the hell out of there"

" _On my way-, Oh_ chert _I've got incoming_ " The whine of an enemy fighter drew nearer and unleashed crimson laser bolts into the tower, sending the roof and supports metres into the air then spiralling down to the church below.

"Natalie!" Michelle shouted through the comm, the rest of his squad stopping and staring in horror at the now destroyed bell tower.

"Nat come in. Nat" Ben tried contacting her to no avail.

"Howard why you stopping?" Henrik stopped firing for a second to see the commotion.

"It's Private Stanovich Sarge, she's been hit"

"There's nothing we do now Corporal. Get moving" Before he was about to concede to Henrik's orders, he heard coughing and string of Russian curses speaking into his comm link.

"Nat come in, it's that you" Dan frantically questioned, they all waiting in anticipation for a response.

" _I hate those_ chertov _things_ " Even with their mask visors covering their faces, Ben could tell each one of them had a look of relief " _Great, I'm stuck_ "

"All of you head to the Town Hall"

"Wait a sec, where you going?"

"To get Nat. I'll catch up with the rest of you later"

"Hold it Corporal"

"No Sarge she's part of my team, I will **not** abandon her" Ignoring anymore protesting Ben ran back into the fray. The whole of Market Square had been completely overrun now by robots making headway to the command posts. Hiding from the hundred if not thousands of mechanical bodies marching down the Square with a repetitive rhythm of metal humping down on the concrete road, the Corporal followed his visor's directions to his trapped squadmate.

He ran past bodies of dead UECAF troops, marines and civilians but a big number of robot remains littering the place too. The church came into view and Ben practically bolted to the damaged double wooden doors before any of the machines could see him enter.

Inside the roof had caved in from pieces of the bell tower, crushing the altar and cracking open the ebony floor. Thankfully to his relief the way to the bell tower wasn't blocked so he rushed over calling out her name.

"Over here" She coughed. When Ben found her she lay on the dented and cracked floor at the bottom of the now broken staircase, with a reasonable big piece of masonry trapping her left leg and her mask missing.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I think" She winced holding onto her trapped leg "This hurts like hell"

"Where's your mask?"

"Over there" She nodded to the bottom of the staircase, the object in question had the visor smashed and the rest twisted to one side.

"Ok Nat, I'm gonna try lift this off you. You ready?"

" _Da_ " She confirmed whilst he placed his BM08 Razor on the ground and moved over to the slab.

"Right on three. One, two-"

" **Hold it right there** " A whiny, high pitched electronic voice ordered behind him. When he turned his head around two skinny robots were standing in the doorway, pointing their snub nosed guns at him and Natalie " **Stand up and put your hands on your head** "

Ben did as he was told and was regretting putting his rifle on the ground and it looked as if Natalie didn't have a weapon on her either. Fuming at his own stupidity he was about to do something drastic when two powerful buck shots from a shotgun decapitated the machines, revealing a more welcoming sight of Sergeant Henrik holding Victor's Rossmore.

"We ain't got all day Howard"

"Thank God, can you give me hand Sarge" He turned back to the fallen slab gripping underneath it with Henrik grabbing onto another part. Heaving it up he heard Natalie crawl backwards then dropped it down, to find an unpleasant discovery on the youngest of his team once he faced her again.

"My leg, it's dislocated"

"We need to hurry this up. I'm afraid Stanovich, this is going to hurt" Henrik bent down grabbing onto her knee and ankle. Ben went over and placed a hand on her shoulder, which she reached up and put hers over waiting for the inevitable pang of pain that came with putting a limb back into place. With a nod meaning he was ready Henrik twisted her leg back into joint with a pained yelp from the youngster.

"Come on you two, let's get back to HQ before those brainless mongrels find us" Picking up his gun and seeing in the corner of his eye Natalie retrieving her L5, they fell in behind the Sarge and ran back to the ever decreasing friendly territory.

Half expecting to see those bulky silver robots waiting for them outside, the 115th trio were instead greeted by a more favoured greeting. A thundering crack originating from a neighbouring skyscraper's roof drew all their eyes over to the now operational Mass drivers. The anti ship guns opened fire on the ship hovering over the shopping mall, embedding heavy slugs into it's exposed belly.

The ship then started drifting away but was met by more electromagnetic rounds from around the capital.

"Quit gawking and let's get out of here" Henrik nudged him and did as he ordered, hoping that at least gave the invaders a good fright.

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The _Amazon_ took another heavy combined barrage of plasma from the flagship and two frigates who had snuck up on the flanks.

"Shields down twenty eight percent"

"Light MDs one to six aren't responding"

"Sir, escape pods have just jettisoned from the _Grim Strike_ "

" _Canberra_ are reporting hull breaches and venting atmosphere" The endless reports of misery floated all around the Bridge at the now near one sided battle. Eiji could see the turmoil in the Captain's eyes as he did his best to counter a losing battle.

All but one frigate remained and that was the _Shadow Fist_ who was currently hounded by enemy bombers, the _Prague_ and the _Canberra_ were experiencing similar problems to each other at the bombardment of enemy turrets swarming red plasma all over their battered hulls and to top it all of, the promised reinforcements had not arrived.

The _Amazon_ itself was not faring any better with one Particle Beam Cannon now offline from a suicide run from enemy fighters, it's shields dropping fast and the silo doors to the nuclear arsenal were refusing to open.

"Engineer is reporting the doors are jammed and should be fixed in a few minutes"

"Tell them we don't a few minutes, get them open now!" The ship yet again rocked at a bombing run. The Bridge was lit by the exploding _Grim Strike_ meeting it's fate, doing nothing other than overloading everybody's boiling points. Eiji was pissed and not because of the enemy, not because of watching his fellow Navy colleagues blow up and die right before him those did anger him of course. What angered him more than anything at this time and place was not getting any support from the rest of Second Fleet who should've been here ages ago.

"Captain I'm picking up more contacts coming from the behind the enemy fleet" The Ensign who first picked up these Separatist Alliance bunch informed them with a shaky tone. The hearts of everyone on the Bridge sunk like a rock falling into water. Already outnumbered and outgunned this was the nail in coffin for the last of the defending ships of the CSF. Surrounded and the shields about to give out any minute, Eiji was just about to embrace the inevitable fate that was awaiting them when her voice spoke up again.

"Sir it's not the Separatist Alliance" She called out in a mix of shock and confusion.

"Second Fleet?" Captain Fisher asked with all the remaining hope he had left. Power walking over Eiji stared down at the screen of 10 blips showing incoming ships

"No sir. They're Chimera" Silence overshadowed the crew as they couldn't believe their ears. Eiji resisted the urge to rub his eyes to check this wasn't some sort of trick but the screen showed the signatures of Imperial ships.

"Sir we're being hailed" Silva said with a look of bewilderment.

"On speakers"

" _This is High Captain Tuchar'an of Her Majesty's Imperial Navy. How may we be of assistance?_ "


	8. Battle of New Babylon part II

( _Hey guys just a quick note, here's the Chimeran ranks and the normal equivalents_ :

 **Squad Minor- Private**

 **Squad Leader- Corporal**

 **Pack Master- Sergeant**

 **Junior Commander- Captain**

 **Commander- Colonel**

 **Lord General- General**

 **High Captain-** **Commodore**

 **Supreme Admiral- Admiral of the fleet**

 _and without further adieu here's chapter 5 :))_

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 **CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, The Bridge, New Babylon orbit**

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Eiji was in a state of shock, not quite believing both his ears at what came through the speakers and of the ID signatures on the screen below him. The Ensign, Captain Fisher and the rest of the crew on the Bridge shared his feelings, all dumbfounded by the deep hard voice contacting them from the other side of the battle.

" _I repeat, this is High Captain Tuchar'an of Her Majesty's Imperial Navy. How may we be of assistance?_ "

"Captain, Captain!" Lieutenant Silva shouted from across the display screen, shaking Fisher from his moment of daze.

"Lieutenant can we respond back?"

"Yes sir, our communications array hasn't to have taken hits yet"

"Good establish a link" A few taps on the board and Eiji saw Silva nod for confirmation "This Captain Fisher of the CSF cruiser _Amazon_ , we are taken heavy fire and down to only a handful of ships. Hostile forces have landed on the surface and are swarming Port Alexander. We are in urgent need of assistance in both air and ground support, over"

" _Affirmative Captain Fisher, you have our support_ " Eiji moved back to display table to the now extended holo image of the CSF, Separatist Alliance and now Imperial Chimeran warships. Their allies new support consisted of five _Dauntless_ class corvettes, four _Illustrious_ destroyers and one _Subjugation_ class cruiser, a powerful force that could perhaps tip the scales in their favour.

Returning to the battle at hand the _Amazon_ was still taking heavy fire and the shields strength must of been teetering on the single digits now. The second in command of the battered and bruised cruiser watched in both relief curiosity at half the opposing fleet break off from their attack and turn to meet the Chimera. A blast of yellow from a Particle Beam Cannon raced across the view window and struck into a departing enemy cruiser, shearing off its support beam at the back leaving it floating aimlessly amongst the wreckage of other destroyed ships.

"Engineer is reporting the silo doors have been repaired"

"Captain-san, perhaps it is time to show a wounded animal does not go down without a fight" His steely eyes of determination made Fisher smirk at the suggestion.

"Indeed Lieutenant commander. Launch one nuke at Laden's flagship with a full spread of all remaining missiles and torpedos" His commands met he joined the Captain in the launch of the _Amazon_ 's deadly payload.

Silo door 1 lifted from the cruiser's hull and clunked upright, showing a 15 metre hole in diametre in the front section. A mere five seconds later the self guided nuclear missile flew out of the silo, it's imposing 12 metre long bullet shaped, white and yellow coloured body hovered over the ship. It switched its movement down horizontally pointing at it's intended target.

Within a blink of an eye, Eiji watched it race toward the Admiral Laden's cruiser at breathtaking speed. It startled a few crew members on the Bridge at it's velocity, like a firework shooting up at the night sky. With it was the Crossbow missiles and torpedos Fisher had ordered to fire, acting as an escort and cover of such to help prevent it's destruction before detonating.

Red plasma rounds from the lead ship rained down on the highly explosive payload, clipping the nuclear missile's small counterparts but missing the more lethal weapon of mass destruction. An Ensign at weapons control counted down the distance as it edged closer and closer, ignoring the angry red bolts whizzing past it.

It got within a kilometre of the ship when the lead cruiser started banking left in an attempt to avoid it, but it was only in vain. It in fact just gave the nuclear WMD a more precise and bigger target to aim for as it slammed hard into the flagship. Eiji covered his eyes like the rest of the others from the blast that lit up the forever night sky of space like a second sun.

The blinding light from the resulting blast faded, revealing the heat and high end megaton worth of damage on their adversary. A huge section on the port side of the bow was no more, blackened marks surrounded the ship's gaping hole from the intense heat of the nuke having zapped away it's shields. There were a few cheers ringing around the Bridge and Eiji couldn't resist a triumphant smile at battering the enemy cruiser had taken and was with no doubt they had scared the opposing crew shitless.

"Settle down people we still have a fight on our hands" Fisher had warned the premature celebrating crewmen. Eiji knew he was right of course but at least they put Admiral Laden's ship out of action for the time being. Out of the nine ships at the beginning of the battle there were now only four left and all were heavily damaged and still taking a beating from the enemy ships who hadn't broken off from the fight to face the newly arrived Imperial support. The battle between them was already underway, the red and white plasma bolts from both sets of ships flew passed one another in the quickly turned heated exchange.

The more faster corvettes of the Chimera moved ahead of the others laying down heavy fire on the Separatist Alliance frigates. Swarms of their compact, teardrop shaped fighter interceptors clashed with the Separatists' own, out maneuvering and peppering them with their more smaller plasma turrets ripping through squadrons of them. The spinless destroyers targeted the large ships of the intercepting squadron, firing off plasma and pulse lasers.

The immense Imperial cruiser in the middle, almost twice the size of the _Amazon_ , had it's anti ship batteries targeting the enemy ships indiscriminately, supporting it's comrades and turning two frigates into dismembering wrecks. It's trajectory Eiji noted was making a beeline for the two big, bulbous ships they had worked out to be carriers.

One turned around to meet the advancing cruiser and opened fire in attempt to slow its approach, with little success. The Chimeran ship slowed down then went to a complete stop, ignoring all the enemy fire around it. Eiji saw the main gun of the cruiser power up just the like the _Amazon_ and other CSF warships, it's Plasma Beam Cannon lighting up like a whirlwind of azure coloured energy. After a couple seconds of build up it blasted out and hit right into the sphere section of the carrier.

The firepower of the Chimera's main gun for their ships was the stuff of envy amongst the officers and engineers of the CSF and it had just demonstrated right before his eyes why it continued to be. None of the CSF squadron Eiji knew of had fired a single shot at the carriers to have caused any damage but the blue energy cut straight through the carrier shields and armour as if they weren't even there.

The sphere blew apart violently with no clear signs of debris, breaking the pincer like arms cleanly in half. With one carrier down the cruiser switched its attention quickly to other one and fired everything it had at it while evidently waiting for it's main gun t recharge.

"Now the're just showing off"

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 _Valkyrie_ 1 dodged another blast of crimson laser that only just missed his starboard wing.

"Jesus!" He cursed at the persistent chase between him and some clawed shaped drone fighter. At the beginning of the engagement his own squadron had consisted of 12 fighters and now it was reduced to only three, himself included. The _Reaper_ s pilots had all the advantages except for numbers and he witnessed first hand they went to extreme lengths to take them out, even deliberately ramming into _Valkyrie_ 4 and 8 as well as doing suicide attacks into their home ship the _Prague_.

He had the unfortunate _joy_ of being game for a flight of these nimble fighters. Out of missiles and low on rounds for his 30mm cannons he used every trick he could to lose them. First he lead them over to the AA guns of a CSF frigate his scanners ID as the _Shadow Fist_ which destroyed one, leaving three to trail him over to a newly created debris field from a wrecked Separatist Alliance ship. Pulling some crazy maneuvers he slipped around the chunks of thick armour and this rendered two more inert as a threat but he still had one more on his tail.

" _Valkyrie_ 1 to _Valkyrie_ Squadron, I could really do with a hand here" He requested keeping his eyes out for the enemy fighter.

" _Sorry sir, I have my own stalker to deal with_ " The ID indicator flashed from _Valkyrie_ 3.

" _On my way_ Valkyrie _1-, oh shit arghh-" Valkyrie_ 6's ID tag changed to red, yet another pilot under his command snuffed from existence. With a hard pull on the joist stick _Valkyrie_ 1 pulled his fighter into sharp turn, feeling the full G force gripping him as he tried another attempt to lose his pursuer. To his dismay it only copied his movements and carried on blasting out at him.

His radar began picking up another signature behind him but to his amazement it was a Chimeran fighter who had joined in. Remembering his studies over different space fighters types _Valkyrie_ 1 recognised the image as the Imperials more favoured _Revenant_ fighter interceptors, having a different definition to CSF standards of the role an interceptor. The pilot of the Imperial craft was checking his fire, waiting for a good opening without hitting his own starfighter.

Thinking fast he twisted his _Reaper_ vertically for less chance of friendly fire, praying to God the drone hadn't done the same. Luckily the reactions of the Chimeran pilot were lightning quick and shot white streams of plasma at the drone fighter, turning it into floating scrap. The _Revenant_ broke off pursuit and went searching for another target, leaving _Valkyrie_ 1 to silently thank the unknown pilot for saving his skin.

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"Fire!" Captain Fisher commanded their last functional Particle Cannon at Laden's limping flagship. The duel between the cruisers looked to be coming to an end to Eiji's great relief. The Separatist ship clearly hadn't recovered from the nuclear strike and looked to be trying to leave the fight but the Lieutenant commander knew his superior was not going to let the invaders get away so easily.

The yellow beam struck into the retreating cruiser's engines and left it dead in space once both turned into balls of fire. On the other side of the battlefield the Imperial Chimeran ships were sweeping aside the enemy fleet with relative ease, all of whom had unleashed their most powerful weapon at separate ships that drastically reduce their ranks.

"Sir!, enemy ships are breaking off engagement" Even though the last defending ships of the CSF were all in a terrible state and didn't look as if they could last much longer, the attacking ships pulled away letting loose a few stray shots.

"Captain, contacts are leaving the flagship"

"He's abandoning ship?"

"Looks that way Lieutenant commander Moto" Fisher answered, watching the small holographic forms of shuttles leaving the grief stricken shp.

"Sir, Colonel Hall is requesting support. He says they can't hold out much longer"

"Lieutenant hail the Imperials" Eiji saw Silva give the thumbs up almost instantly after the Captain's command "High Captain this Captain Fisher. Forces on the ground are requesting a dire need of help but we are in no fit state to lend support. May I ask you give us a hand?"

" _Acknowledged Captain, I will order our troops to deploy immediately. In the meantime let us finish these honourless droids_ "

"With pleasure High Captain and thank you"

"Droids?"

"You tell me" With no more said of the strange situation for now, he joined the rest of the crew in going about taking out as many of the fleeing ships as possible, to avenge those the retreating fleet had destroyed.

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 **Assault Dropship,** _ **En Route**_ **to Human colony of New Babylon**

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The dropship troop compartment was full of battle ready warriors of the Empire waiting to go into another world facing invasion, soldiers Vicus Hikar'an had lead liberating the fringe colonies of Jusaria and Kotia. Not only had these machines of dared challenge the Empire and attempted to imprison Imperial citizens but now they attack the humans without provocation.

Like many of his people they first assumed it to be a UEC invasion until he boarded one of their ships and took both the vessel and it's alien commanders. Through his visor he checked over his troops, the proud and respected 8th Regiment that had once been lead by General Kurica herself. Altogether the compartment held 11 besides himself, 10 fellow Chimeran and one Chamaele all waiting with a calm demeanor.

A tiny flash of white flickered in the corner of his visor signalling an incoming message with the identification code tag of High Captain Iros Tuchar'an. Pressing on his wrist CyberTool Vicus loaded up the yellow hologram of the Naval officer.

" _Commander, the human Captain has sent me all data on the positions of their forces across the planet. This same data is being transmitted to your combat cyber uplink right this second_ "

"Thank you sir"

" _May the Gods grant you luck my friend_ " The small holo image of Tuchar'an bowed before terminating the transmission. Seeing the link had finished sending over the relevant data he loaded up the map of the colony's capital of Port Alexander. White dots showed the areas the UEC troops were held up and the black represented the machines positions.

Two areas of the city had a high concentration of human soldiers, one situated near the middle of the city and the other on the outer edges. From his experience with the droids he knew they targeted the large forces first before moving on and it was no different this time round.

Unimaginative pieces of scrap, He thought to himself, resisting the urge to snarl at the pathetic creations. Pressing on the side of his helmet to contact his second in command Junior Commander Hek'ot and Pack Master Kilr'us.

" _Yes Commander_ " They both answered at close timing to each other.

"I've marked the location of your deployment. Hek'ot you are to head south to the fringes of the city. Pack Master you are to land east of the city centre, while I'll come in from the north"

" _What do we know of the enemy forces on the ground sir?_ " The Junior Commander asked through the comm link.

"Estimates are believed to be around twenty to thirty thousand"

" _Just like Kotia_ " Pack Master Kilr'us gruff voice said on the other end.

"Indeed. Only the humans have taking a toll on their numbers"

" _Understood, see on the battlefield Commander_ "

"Acknowledged. May the spirit of Kurica guide you" The link was ended and Vicus returned to dwelling on the upcoming battle.

"ETA eighteen minutes Commander"

"Thank you pilot" Vicus thought on the humans who had pleaded for their aid. His personal opinion on the primates was neutral at best. Their culture were strange to him and his people, they were very chaotic and undisciplined in many areas of life but from the few examples of human history he had read they displayed great feats of courage and self sacrifice.

If they still held the spirit shown in their own war with the Purist scum then the Separatist Alliance were in for a nasty encounter.

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 **New Babylon, Planetside**

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"We need a medic over here!" Ben heard somebody call from the other end of the makeshift barricade around Town Hall. Tables, cars, Cheetahs and a Grizzly APC with a working Hellfire turret blocked the entrance with whatever could be scrounged from within the government building and local area. Four Prowlers were guarding at all four sides of the building firing non stop at the seemingly never ending horde of robots converging on their position.

Down to only two clips left for his Razor, Ben kept on bringing down numerous machines having lost count how many he must of killed ages ago. Before the invasion the total strength of the UECAF forces on the surface was 3,500 and he was sure that number was less than half now. The robots overan, in some cases literally, outposts and defensive positions belonging to the 115th and the Marine detachment.

All he knew from what he was informed by Captain Pires and other troops who had fallen back to Town Hall was there were a few holdouts in the school district and the base. A robot tank was suddenly halted 10 metres from the barricade from a Wildfire missile coming from the top floor balcony, above the storm of bullets coming out of the smashed windows from all types of weapons.

"I wish we had a Talos around about now" Michelle said kneeling behind the laser riddled Cheetah next to him, pulling a Hedgehog grenade off her belt.

"Trust us to get a cruiser not loaded with one of those big fuckers" Dan agreed firing the second to last drum of his Hailstorm on top of a table next to the Cheetah. Ben couldn't help but agree too, knowing the heavy walkers would be a massive help and morale booster to the defending troops.

"Hedgehog!" The Chicagoan warned before lobbing it at a cluster of skinny bots. One robot stopped and picked the barbed ball from the floor. Had it had a face Ben was sure it would of had a look of fear as it rose from it's metal fingers and shot out steel, spines of death, burying into the bodies of half a dozen skinnies and a bulky.

" _Nice throw Michelle, I saw that from up here_ " Natalie complemented through the comm, her L5 Sharpshooter's barrel sticking out of the third floor window. The bubble shield of the Prowler guarding the front entrance faded then completely vanished, leaving it to be hit by multiple rounds from the enemy tanks. It stumbled from the rounds hitting the thicker plating of it's body then crashed to the ground from one red high explosive energy bolt crashing into it's knee joint.

"We need tanks, not walkers" Victor complained firing a single Auger round through the Grizzly.

"Hey you dumb fuck!, shoot that shit somewhere else" The gunner of the APC growled down to him.

"Why?, your up there and I'm shooting it down here so what's the problem?" Ben ignored the rest of the argument and fired a Bullseye tag into a silver droid then hid behind cover again, firing blindly at the machine. After firing what must of been a quarter of the magazine he heard a satisfying bang of metal hitting the ground.

"I finally bring one of those tossers down" He said aloud pleased he brought down one all on his own.

"Not bad Corp, but this is the way to do it" The big Tau Ceti remarked sending a hail of dark green down on a squads worth of the headless robots, sending down to the floor in a hail of sparks. Enemy starfighter still roamed around over their heads trying to take out the Mass drivers who were bombarding the ships hovering over the city with great effect.

"Colonel repeat, I didn't pick up that last part" Pires spoke jogging out from the Town Hall. He fired five bullets from his P17 as he approached over to their position, pulling on the secondary trigger blowing up any target the bullets embedded themselves into "Roger that sir"

"What's going on Captain?" Ben asked him as he took cover behind the table Dan had fixed his Minigun on.

"Reinforcements are on the way guys. We just need to hold this position a little longer" A newfound boost seemed to have ignited the defending soldiers, dismay replaced by hope as everyone kept their fingers on the triggers of the guns. Ammo was running low and the robots were getting closer and closer to the first barricade line.

The advancing machines parted as two brown metal thing rolled passed them and uncoiled into tri legged, thin robots with twin laser guns.

"Crap!" A blue bubble shield deployed around the new machines and the twin guns on each of them blasted away, killing two marines and an Army trooper who couldn't avoid their fire. Ben and Michelle concentrate fire on the closest shielded robot but it didn't seem to have any effect and only ended up having the brown bot turn it's attention over to them.

"I think we made it mad" She said sticking closely behind the Cheetah.

"Vic can't you get the Auger on those things?"

"No, Auger rounds can't penetrate through shields" With a sigh Ben stayed behind cover trying to think up of another way to deal with the tough newcomers.

"Walters we're gonna need a hand down here" He heard Pires speak into his comm link, talking to the soldiers on the balcony. The Wildfire launcher looked set to hopefully blast the shield robots to kingdom come when to the shock of the troops on the ground, the balcony was hit by a explosive energy bolt sending the poor blighters down to their deaths.

"Damn!" Pires cursed sharing the same sentiment to the soldiers and marines beside him. More heavy fire was hitting the front of the barricade managing to cause serious harm to the lightly covered sections and screams of pain emitted from those spots. Ben rose from cover ready to send another burst in the robot's' way when to horror the tanks had overtaken the machines path and took point.

"Shit, everyone fall back inside now!" Pires waved to the everyone behind the barricade. To add fuel to the very roaring fire the next volley of red hit a cracked pillar, causing it to fall down on the doorway and blocking their escape inside. Ben's could feel his blood run cold at being trapped and seemingly enclosing death coming their way now that they were completely surrounded.

" _Guys why aren't you moving?_ " Natalie's worried voice rang in his ears.

"We're a little stuck at the moment Nat" Vic dryly responded back. A laser bolt whizzed past his head, bringing Ben out of his daze and returned fire at the machines. After a dozen or so bullets blasted out the unwelcome click of the empty Razor filled his hearing. Dropping it to the floor he pulled out both his P17 Strikers and fired them simultaneously at the robot sticking out of the cockpit of the tank. If his fate had been sealed he was going to go down fighting.

Standing almost in a perfect line with Dan, Victor, Michelle, Captain Pires and the other soldiers and marines firing the last bullets of their weapons, Ben waited for the inevitable ending of life when the column of tanks and their support robots went up in flames.

"What was that?" They all looked up to the sky at an unexpected sight. A wave of silver and black dropships flew over their heads, unleashing rockets and white coloured plasma bolts down on the robotic horde.

"It's the Chimera!"

"What the hell are they doing here?"

"Who cares they just saved our asses" The round of shocked and relieved voices shouted around him.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see the Uglies" Michelle commented next to him, letting out a nervous sigh. Behind them was another explosion, the wall to the ground floor blow outward to reveal the on rushing soldiers of their fellow 115th comrades and marines joining them outside. Henrik emerged from the crowd throwing a new Razor at him with Natalie joining them, once again completing the squad.

"Come on boys and girls, let's not let the Imperial Cavalry steal the whole show"


	9. Part III- Nothing but Scrap

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 **Assault Dropship, Northern Sector, Capital City of Human Colony New Babylon**

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Vicus heard the repetitive thud of the dropship's cannons striking against enemy targets on the ground. A sudden jolt almost made a few in the back lose their footing as the pilots dodged an incoming threat he couldn't identify thanks to the lack of outside view in the dark and cramped troop compartment, until the side doors opened up.

"Descending down now Commander, prepare for deployment" One of the pilots called from the front. Turning to waiting troops behind him who were all facing toward the front of the assault dropship, Vicus gave them his last pep talk.

"This is it soldiers. Remember, shoot anything that has steel for flesh. For the Empire"

"For the Empire!" They all chanted back, holding their weapons at the ready and faced the doors, standing by for the doors to part and release them into the new battlefield. He felt beneath his armoured feet the transport slow down, meaning it had reached the proper elevation for jumping out to the surface below. With one last check over the energy cells in the Heavy Carbine and making sure his Energy-Mace was clipped onto his magnetic clamps on his back armour, the doors of the dropship split open to the sight of kinetic and heated plasma from the other combatants.

Vicus jumped out first and was quickly followed by his warriors, the same action repeated by several other assault dropships close by deploying troops of the 8th Regiment. The last to disembark out was the Chamaele, Shevko roaring out a fierce battle cry once it's heavy clawed feet crashed to the concrete covered ground, which the Army Commander knew was to be a sign that the six eyed reptilian was ready for combat. His huge clawed hands equipped with small plasma cannons on the dorsal side, the leads running up to the energy tank attached to his back.

"This way!" He commanded pointing down a road where his inbuilt sensors presented on his visor the location of the thickest area of action. Black smoke billowing out of buildings and wrecked combat vehicles littered the war torn landscape, bodies of human warriors and civilians lay on the roads and paths with some hanging out of windows of emporiums.

One point of interest that caught Vicus' eye was the destroyed human walker laying on the ground with it's legs broken into pieces and it's crew section nothing more than a smouldering, empty space. In front of it was three droid tanks no longer in working order, all with evident signs of hefty battle damage and bits missing off their tanned coloured hulls.

Went down with a fight, He complemented seeing as the walker was said to have been a light armoured series of the UECAF combat vehicles, compared to machines own hover-tanks.

Taking a turning on the left hand side at the end of the road Vicus sighted the war droids for the the first time since landing on the human world. What must of been a company's worth were moving up against a group of human troops on the other end of the street. Judging by the flow of kinetic and plasma rounds being exchanged, Vicus summoned up the defending forces were the outnumbered party.

Without another word he lifted his Carbine up and pressed down on the stick thin trigger, sending a controlled burst of superheated white plasma into the back of one of the taller wrist mounted war droids. The great lump of steel fell forward with a dull clang to the concrete road, riddled with newly formed scorch marks the plasma embedded into it's body and melted away the electronic innards of the machine.

The low pitched drumming of energy rifles soon joined his own taking down more of the machine menaces, gaining their attention as they swapped targets now his warriors were seen as a bigger threat. The more smaller, skeletal droids started to fire back, a crimson bolt managing to collide into Vicus' shields but not enough to bring them down proportionately.

His unit dispersed into near by cover and continued to press a sea of heated white down on the machines, except for Shevko who charged at the war droids like an enraged _Ekus_ *. A squad of droids flew several flights above his hulking form and slammed down into a dismembering pile as the Squaad Minor thrusted his right claw upward on a silver war droid, slicing it into two pieces. Vicus was always impressed by the ferocious fighting of the Chamaele species despite lacking discipline and control when they got into the heat of battle.

Thanks to Shevko 'clearing' a path for them he jumped from his covered position behind a waste disposer, signalling for the others to push forward. The hostile droid numbers lessened swiftly into a mere handful the humans took care of, bringing down the last one with a shot from a long, barreled shaped ammo feed weapon.

"Thanks pal, we thought we were goners back there" A armoured clad human a foot shorter than him approached, carrying his kinetic weapon in both his hands and pulling off his mask.

"It is our pleasure human. Where is the Commander in charge of the planet's defence?"

"Colonel Hall is held up in the leisure centre a couple streets down that way" The human pointed, verifying the location in his visor's map "Unfortunately it's clogged up by heavy armour and half a dozen of robots with bubble shields. We were taking a different route when we bumped into these guys" The human soldier indicated to the destroyed mess of droids.

"No worries human, Imperial forces of the 8th Regiment are converging in support of your forces"

"Greatly appreciated sir. I'm Sergeant Hibbert of the 20th Marines" He gave him a quick loose salute.

"Commander Hikar'an of the 8th" Vicus returned with a light bow "Can you take us to this 'leisure centre' your superior is held up?"

"Sure thing Commander, it's this way" The Sergeant stopped suddenly when he saw the Chamaele Squad Minor "Uh, your Chameleon friend might have some trouble going through these buildings"

Without so much a word uttered by him, Vicus and both his and the human warriors watched the unit heavy marched over to one of the suggested buildings and ploughed through the brick and metal structure like it wasn't even there.

"It appears that problem has been solved Sergeant Hibbert" Vicus said to the bewildered human, the look and sense of shock clearly visible on their faces.

"Uh, ok then. Well it's heading in the right direction so let's follow him" Raising his arm and waving to the rest of his warriors to accompany the UEC troops, Vicus joined his fellow Imperials through the maze of emporiums and back streets with large sized gaps left by the Chamaele heavy in the passing walls.

As they got to a clearing a vast shadow eclipsed over their position. Vicus stared up at the sky to find a Separatist frigate hovering over them.

"Sergeant, why was there no mention of enemy ships blockading the city?"

"Don't know sir. Our communications have been sketchy and we've no air support to take them out. We had Mass drivers keeping them out for a time but they've all been destroyed by those damn fighters doing suicide runs" The human informed him with a hint of anger at the last part of his statement. A second could be seen flying over 500 metres away, according to his visor's readings and it too was going in the same trajectory as the one above his and his warriors' heads.

"Stop!" He ordered to his unit, making them all halt and wait for the purpose of their Commander.

"Sir what the hell you doing?" Ignoring the outburst from the Sergeant he tapped once on the side of his helmet, contacting the fleet in orbit.

"High Captain, two enemy frigates-"

"There's three" Another human informed him.

"Correction, there are three enemy frigates within the city limits. Request bomber supporter to eliminate hostile advantage"

" _I can do one better Commander_ " Tuchar'an's voice replied back. Vicus left it at that and awaited for what his friend to send them air support. In the meantime he nodded for the troops to continue heading for the human Army Colonel location, to wipe out the rest of the war droid forces and liberate this world of this 'Separatist Alliance' scum.

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"These bastards just won't let up" Dan complained whilst firing the last remaining subsonic bolts from his Hailstorm. Ben fired from a Razor he picked up from a dead marine on their retreat from Town Hall, sending dozens of bullets on fully automatic into the encroaching robots.

Despite the unexpected help from Chimeran air support the mixed unit of soldiers, marines and militia had been pushed back to the remaining stronghold not overrun in Port Alexander. From a place that was supposed to relax and release stress of people's minds had turn into the exact opposite of it's purpose. Had it not been for the Widowmakers defending each road that connected to the command post Ben was sure it would fallen hours ago.

The crack of their 130mm main gun was an oddly reassuring sound that meant they were still operational and raining hell on the invader robots. The machines own tanks couldn't even break through and instead ones who came too close became smoking, fiery remains of battlefield ruins. It was concerning that all the surviving armour was clumped up together too tightly, making them big fat juicy targets for an air strike but neither Ben or anyone around him had seen an enemy fighter since the arrival of the Chimera.

"Wish those AS guns were still operational"

"Well you can thank these pricks later for taking away our only means of keeping those ships out of our sky" Henrik growled whilst throwing a frag grenade at a few bots who somehow managed to evade the anti-personel machine guns of the Widowmakers. One by one Ben and the defending troops watched in disbelief at the Mass drivers being rammed by hostile fighters, all of whom didn't show any signs of damage. The lengths these things went just to kill them was nothing short of extraordinary.

" _Govno_ , it's those rolling robots again" Victor pointed out in alarm, the machines in question rolled past the tanks and uncoiled. Six of them drew up into a fighting stance and activated their blue bubble shields like before and started pouring down laser bolts.

"I hate those fucking things!" Michelle shouted loading a 40mm grenade into the launcher.

"Can't someone get one the tanks to shoot them?" A militiaman suggested by a car that didn't look it'll be ever driving again.

"This close?, are you crazy!" As if the gunner in the tank across the street heard the young militiaman's idea, the turret swung around at 180 degrees and aimed at the cluster of droids. Ben was able to catch a quick glimpse of the recoiling cannon before ducking behind the cement wall, feeling the ground shudder at the HEV shell pulverise the car park ground.

Bits of gravel landed on and around him and Natalie, who was dusting off the fragments of rock and dirt from her sleeves. Popping his head he saw all were no longer there, all that was left was a new crater in the spot the robots fired from seconds ago.

"Now that's some mighty fine shootin'" Ben snapped his head around to see Colonel Hall standing in the open holding a P17 in one hand and holding a cigar in his mouth with the other, only caring to put on his helmet without its mask.

"Colonel what's the latest?" Captain Pires called over the bark of his BM08.

"We just need to keep these brainless dumbasses occupied long enough for the Chimera to encircle the other side. Then we can see about driving these tin cans out of here"

"Colonel may I request you go back inside" Henrik recommended, getting a snort from the leader of the 115th.

"You could Henrik old pal, but you'll only know where you can shove that request" To emphasise his sincerity Ben saw him fire two 9mm explosive tip bullets at a bulky, silver robot then pulled on the secondary trigger, reducing the robot to a shower of sparks and smoke. It bothered him that so many were now getting past the tanks, only to find the one guarding the north west entrance had two new robots climbing on top it's hull.

They were like the skinnies but had the same colour as the tall ones, carrying the same snub nosed guns as the weaker robots and had a more rounded head. One opened up the hatch of the Widowmaker while the other dropped a ball into the tank, presumably a grenade. Ben's assumption was disheartenedly correct as a low bang followed quickly, immobilising the tank and killing the crew.

"Aim for the sneaky bastards on the turrets!" Hall ordered firing four rounds in quick succession at the robots climbing Widowmaker in the north entrance. Ben shot two rounds at the one trying to open the hatch, blowing off it's hand then fired two more into the machine's head. One more dull thud of an explosion came from the tank blocking the north east entrance, allowing for more to stomp round to their position.

The hatch to the tank on the east entrance flew open itself and the two robots staring down into the inside of the Widowmaker suddenly received a full load of bullets into different parts of their mechanical bodies. They both fell off no longer functioning and the tank hatch dropped down again, returning to fighting off the invaders blasting shells at the incoming machine mayhem.

"Crap I'm out of!" Dan announced as the Hailstorm coughed from a lack of ammo

"Here, catch" Ben shouted to him, throwing him one of his pistols. The Lance Corporal caught the gun with one hand and cocked it.

"Thanks Corp" He wasted no time in returning to combating the robots. A tremendous scrap pile was building up around the leisure centre car park but no matter how many were destroyed, more would only take their place like an endless tide that refused to halt.

The robots that had jumped aboard the tank were now pulling off acrobatic leaps across the place, blasting away at any soldier in their way. One gunned down a trio of militiamen who hadn't turned in time to eliminate it and another dived on a soldier, punching into his mask violently leaving a massive dent and no doubt the poor blighter's face had been smashed in. Retribution came instantly in the shaped of a marine kicking it down and pulling off it's head.

"How you holding up Nat?"

"Down to my last clip" She replied peering down the L5's scope and pulling on the trigger, bringing down some far ahead target. Ben return to firing at the horde when he heard a scuffle next to him.

"Colonel!" One of the agile robots had snuck up and was tussling with Hall, gripping it's steely hands around his neck. Hall tried reaching for his pistol that was discarded a few inches from where his hands reached out for it. Ben pointed his rifle at the robot as Hall kept punching it in it's face while still trying to grab his gun, it's hands still gripping tightly around his neck.

Ben booted the machine with the hardest kick he could muster and accomplished in getting off the Colonel, firing a burst into it's chest rendering it inert. He heard Hall violently cough trying to regain his breath as Michelle helped him up off the floor.

"Much appreciated soldiers" He nodded to him, picking up his pistol off the floor "Now come on, we still have a whole bunch of them still not getting the hint"

All attention was suddenly drawn to the sky at the enemy ships blasting up at an unexpected sight. An Imperial Chimeran destroyer emerged from the clouds flying toward the hostile vessels, it's front section glowing blue which could only mean one thing.

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The huge beam of plasma extended out of the destroyer and soared above Vicus' head at the frigate, engulfing it into a ball of fire. The Imperial Navy's main gun for it's warships blew the Separatist Alliance ship apart in an incredible blazing display of flames with it's hull collapsing into countless pieces. The only downside was the now obliterated vessel had been floating over their position at the resulting destruction had large chunks of debris falling down to the streets below.

"Get going!" Vicus ordered his dawdling troops, immediately changing their tempo at the incoming objects. The main body of the frigate cracked in two and fell into a skyscraper and a number of structures beneath it's dead hulk, other remnants crashing down all around his location. With what must of been the Gods' grace none of his warriors had been hit by the new danger, only doing more damage to the city landscape.

An incoming communique flashed in the top left hand on his visor, the identification tag lighting Hek'ot's number.

"Junior Commander, what is the situation?"

" _The district is clear of war droids and we've found few surviving human forces who were held up in an academy_ "

"Very good Junior Commander. Hold position until further orders" He commanded as he let off a round into a thin war droid who got too close for comfort.

" _Yes Commander, it will be done_ " The link closed and Vicus pushed ahead with his unit cutting down every droid that stood in their way, the careless and poor way they engaged them only made his task easier.

The human Sergeant Hibbert took point, directing his forces in the same direction as his map had presented in his helmet and it appeared the clustered dark patch that showed the enemy forces was decreasing too. A squad of his troops were brought down by a silver war droid firing a rocker from it's arm, stomping together with a great number of it's kin. Revenge was at hand in the shape of Squad Minor Shevko blasting two heavy plasma rounds from his own wrist cannons into the column of machines, followed up by surrounding 8th Regiment warriors shooting at any still moving.

Another frigate exploded in the sky above with the credit of the Imperial destroyer sending it's crew to whatever afterlife they believed in. The last one tried clearing away from the battle and climbed high in an attempt to reach space. A concentrated barrage of plasma fire and torpedos from the friendly destroyer made sure that was not going to happen, giving Vicus and everyone within the city a great imploding display.

His comm flashed again, this time from Pack Master Kilr'us identification tag.

" _Commander Hikar'an, we're closing in on the human holdout_ "

"As are we Pack Master. Hek'ot has reported his target area has fallen and the last of the Separatist fleet has been destroyed"

" _Understood Commander, the rest will fall with ease_ "

"Remain cautious Kilr'us" Vicus warned the determined Pack Master "Drive them back, show them the might of the Imperial Army!" He rallied the soldiers of the 8th Regiment, getting cries of approval from his brothers and sisters in arms and a battle cry from the big Chamaele. These invaders were going to pay the price for their unprovoked aggression.

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Ben shot a skinny robot straight into its boney head, dropping to the floor like a rock and tripping the next one behind it over it's metal carcass. Despite stubborn resistance they were all forced back into the leisure centre, the Widowmakers finally succumbing to the combined firepower of over a dozen tanks. The battle was now resorting to close quarters within the tight corridors and rooms of the command post.

"Damn, I'm out of hedgehogs"

"Wouldn't be a good idea anyway Colton. Not with everyone bunched up together like this" Ben said pulling out his only P17 left, shooting three bullets into the side walls. He waited for more of the robots to come further forward before setting off the explosive tips, sending bits of masonry and brick into the machines.

Hiding back into the narrow cover of a strip of wall that stuck out into the corridor, he put the pistol back in his holster and checked his ammo count in the Razor seeing only half of his last magazine left. Returning to the shootout some of the skinnies were blasted back with great force, the reason being was Victor firing off consecutive buck shots with the best type of weapon for close quarter combat.

"I'm down to my last drum. After this we'll have to start using our weapons as clubs" Already Dan, Michelle and Natalie were down to using their sidearms and Ben wasn't far behind. If they come out of this alive he was sure to pray thanks to the genius who came up with the idea to put a tiny bomb inside the shell casings of the bullets.

The building rocked and dust fell from the ceiling, something outside getting in on the assault. The final burst of bullets left out of the overheated barrel of his rifle then Ben threw the empty Razor at one of the silver robots, causing it to stumble back a few steps.

"I just want to say it's been a real honour to serve with you all, even you Modric"

"We're not dead yet Stanovich, but it too has been a pleasure" Victor said with real conviction, something that Ben nor the others rarely hear from the Serb.

It was then a new noise entered the chaotic fray. Ben recognised it as the sound of another type of energy weapon, only it was more of a low pitch compared to the red lasers being fired at them. Then came an animalistic roar emitting from the end of the corridor the robots had been pouring in from. The floor beneath his feet began to shake and a loud crashing noise suddenly came from the same direction, a huge form rushed down their position flattening everything in it's wake.

"Shit, run!" He yelled at his squad. One by one they all pelted down the corridor toward the double doors at the end, leading into the swimming pool area. Red and black warning signs were painted on the wall advising visitors not to do so but none of the soldiers of the 115th paid any heed. The doors swung open and if he hadn't been in worrying about the colossal creature running down the corridor Ben was sure he could be laughing at Michelle and Dan slipping over a large puddle, making them slide head on into the 25 metre long pool.

He stood to one side of the door frame whilst Victor and Natalie did on the other, waiting for the enraged beast to make an entrance. A skinny robot flew from the doors first screaming falling hard on the solid formerly pristine white floor, landing on it's head rendering no longer serviceable.

The doors swung open violently again and there stood the perpetrator snarling at the decapitated bot, an 11 foot tall Chamaele with a big oblong shaped generator strapped to it's back. It snapped it's huge body at a speed surprising for it's size startling him and the others.

"Human. Here to fight alongside allies of Empire Protectors" It spoke in a growl like tone, it's six yellow coloured eyes trained on the trio.

"Uh, cheers mate" Ben nodded to the reptilian, who looked so much like the Chameleon creatures from the Human-Chimeran War. Water splashing and coughing from the two squad members who had fallen into the swimming pool brought the attention of the small party to Dan and Michelle.

"Not the appropriate time to take a swimming lesson Hai" Victor poked fun at the soaked pair with Natalie sniggering at their misfortune.

"Yeah, I always go for swim in the middle of a battle when the situation gets hot" The Lance-Corporal's voice dripped in sarcasm as he and Michelle tore off their masks empting out the water.

"Swimming while fighting not practical, ends in high probability of death" The Chamaele said in it's checkered speech, obviously unaware of the teasing and winding up between the squadmates.

"Who's the big guy?" Michelle pointing up to the big alien.

"What's your name friend?" Ben asked stepping up to the newcomer.

"I Squad Minor Tenko, heavy unit of 8th Regiment of Empire Protectors' Imperial Army"

"Well Tenko, thanks for saving our arses back there. Where's the rest of your unit?"

"Enter building, Empire Protectors sent to support human allies. War constructs soon to taste defeat" The group all exchanged looks of relief, feeling their morale and confidence boost from the Tenko's words.

"That's great news" Michelle sighed sharing the same sentiment as the rest of them.

"Do you wish to rejoin your kin, human?"

"Lead the Squad Minor" Ben indicated for the Chamaele to take point. Whether it's from the hulking alien in front of them or the news the robots were on the verge of loosing, Ben suddenly felt there was nothing that could stop them for driving the enemy out of New Babylon.

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 **New Babylon Orbit, UEC Space**

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From the fleet that came close to obliterating the defending ships of the Commonwealth Space Fleet, all that remained were wrecks and space junk of up to 18 ships. Eiji could not feel any more grateful for the support of the Imperial Chimeran warships currently helping them on recovering survivors amongst their own graveyard of debris that used to be proud vessels of Second Fleet.

The _Amazon_ had sustained heavy damage and the crew were doing everything they could to repair much of the battle scarred cruiser. The _Canberra_ and the _Prague_ had more problems but reported the ships could be saved, unlike the _Shadow Fist_ which the Commander of the last remaining frigate reported it may have to be end up being scuttled.

For the moment he oversaw the repairs of several computer systems as Captain Fisher spoke to the holographic of the Chimeran naval officer High Captain Tuchar'an.

" _Our forces on the ground_ _report the war droids units are nearly annihilated. Your colony should be liberated and under your control within the hour_ "

"Thank you High Captain, you have the gratitude of my crew, command and no doubt the ground forces below" Eiji saw the Chimeran bow lightly to Fisher.

" _These beings had invaded our territory and seeked to subjugate my people. It's only right to make sure they do not try elsewhere and keep them from spreading terror across the great cosmos_ "

"Captain we have incoming" The Ensign, who Eiji found out her name to be Jill Warren, informed the Captain, giving a scoff once she recognised the readings of the ships "It's Second Fleet"

On cue the FTL Windows opened up into real space and the thirty ships of the their main command, including that of Admiral Keller's flagship the _Leviathan_ class dreadnought the _Hawthorne_.

"Admiral Keller is hailing us" Silva read from his station. With a nod the link to the flagship was established.

"Admiral Keller, how nice of you to finally join us at last" The cold, contempt in Fisher's voice wasn't lost of Eiji or any other of the crew, mostly because they shared the same feelings to the absent reinforcements.

" _Captain I apologise for our delay, all will be explained in due time. In the meantime I request you come aboard, along with the Chimeran Captain to discuss the issue in private_ "

"Very well, I hope it's a damn good one" With a wave to his throat the link was severed.

"She'll not be amused Captain-san"

"I couldn't give a shit to be honest Eiji. Whatever this explanation is, it better be worth all the lives lost today"

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 ***Ekus- A four legged Marauder creature native to the Chimeran homeworld**


	10. Aftermath

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 **Leisure Centre Car Park, Port Alexander, New Babylon**

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The scene surrounding Ben was an interesting contrast to say the least. The car park was teeming with activity of personnel from both UECAF and Chimeran troops loading the wounded around on stretches and giving medical attention, using their respective medical equipment. Dozens of the Imperials creepy orb droids floating around all over the place, assisting the Chimeran healers or independently going about giving medical treatment to both human and Chimeran casualties.

Nearby were rows of body bags filled with the dead of soldiers, marines and Colonial Militia, sadly topping into hundreds of so many of his fellow regiment comrades. On the other side by some burned out cars was the ever growing pile of broken up robots being chucked aside with contempt except for a few intact models being loaded up into a Buzzard dropship, for the scientists to study he guessed.

Civilians were now out of the shelters and wandered around the battle scarred capital of their home, finding out whether their homes or business survived or watching all the military comings and goings. He saw a group of kids staring up with a look of awe and fear at one of the Chamaele who dragged one of the destroyed robot tanks off the road toward the cluster of wrecks of other tanks, including that of the Widowmakers.

"So, does anyone know who the assholes responsible for all this are yet?"

"Other than they're called the Separatist Alliance and on the shit list of everyone here?. Afraid not Dan" He said casting his gaze over at the lines of deceased, feeling anger boil inside him at the sight of so many dead because of an invasion none of them knew the reasons behind it.

"These guys must know" Michelle pointed her finger at the Chimera "Bit convenient they so happen to be arrive just as we were about to be overrun"

"Sure but then again where was the Navy?. It wouldn't of taken them long to get here if the ships in orbit requested backup" Dan argued back, giving food for thought for Ben to think over. Any debate between his squad was interrupted when Ben saw a trio of Chimera walk over to Colonel Hall and Captain Pires standing by a medical station being set up by personnel from the newly, and lately, arrived ships of Second Fleet.

"Are you the planetary commander?" The lead Chimeran quizzed the Colonel in the typical deep, flanging voice his species had, towering over the officers by nearly a foot.

"Something along those lines. Colonel Frank Hall of the 115th Assault Regiment, First Frontier Division. You?"

"Commander Vicus Hikar'an of the 8th Regiment, 14th Imperial Army" He pressed a fist into his chest then gave a small bow.

"You have the thanks of me, the men and women of the one-one-five and probably the entire planet Commander. I was sure my next cigar would be in the heavens if it weren't for your guys kicking these bastards metal hides" Hall offered his hand to the alien in front of him. The Commander looked down at the hand like he wasn't sure what the gesture offered meant. One of the Chimera accompanying him whispered something behind a closed fist to him, a look of realisation appearing in his eyes.

"It was a pleasure Colonel Hall" The tall Chimeran shook his hand "The Separatist filth shall not succeed in the fruitless conquests"

"Wait, you know who these things belong to?"

"We were invaded by the Separatist Alliance two weeks ago. They're lead by an Admiral Laden who was wanting to add our territory into his Master's ambitions"

"The rumours were true then" Ben said breaking the focus away from the yammering officers. Buzzard G/Ts started lifting off the ground carrying more wounded up to the fleet to receive proper medical treatment, their troop compartments stuffed full of so many injured personnel.

"Corporal Howard" He turned to the person calling, recognising it as the marine Sergeant from the morning exercise.

"Sergeant Hibbert, good to see your alive"

"You guys too" He nodded to them all then raised his eyebrow at Dan and Michelle sitting on the curb "What happen to you two?"

"Got chased into the swimming pool by one of those big beasties" Colton put plainly thumbing at one of the Chamaele.

"Yeah we were saved by one of those. Ran straight through lines of them liking a bowling ball. Do you know where Major Demir is?"

"He's dead I'm afraid Sergeant" Pires walked over "Not many marines have made it back from the school district. Those that have said he held off the robots long enough for them to escape, not long after the Chimera's arrival"

"Shame sir, he was a hard ass but a good officer"

"So I hear. Just another reason to hate these things" Their superior spoke with discontent "Corp since you squad has no injuries other than a couple of wet suits, I need you to do clear up duty in the west of the city to search for any possible nasties left behind"

"Yes sir" Ben felt tired and was sure his team was too but it was better cleaning up any left over robots than standing around the dead. Whoever these Separatist Alliance guys were, they were sure as hell going to pay.

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 **Geneva Main Spaceport, Geneva, Earth, Sol System, UEC Capital** (Two days later)

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The runway was all set out correctly with all the ceremonial pomp of red carpets, the marine guards of honour standing on both sides of the welcoming carpet each with three rows of smartly dressed uniforms and berets. Each marine held an archaic bolt action rifle commonly used in the First World War, placing it onto their shoulders and standing to attention not moving an inch.

Premier James Cartwright awaited in a crisp navy blue suit on the mouth of the carpet with his entourage consisted of his aide Julia, the heads of the United Earth Commonwealth Armed Forces General Bill Terrance, Admiral of the Fleet Jussi Lindberg and Marine General Michael Collinson and Director of the Intelligence Bureau Rachel Aguero. The last time he hosted the Empress of the Chimeran Empire he had over a week for to plan preparations for her arrival, only this time he had two days.

Security was all over the place and a series of fences and a detail of guards were placed on the press outlets, camera drones taking pictures and recordings of this unexpected short notice visit. All air traffic was diverted away and from all the emails and notices Julia had informed him of air traffic controllers and merchant traders it wasn't a popular order but he didn't care, there was far more important issues to attend to.

An alien force had invaded the UEC and from the reports he received from the IB this same 'Separatist Alliance' had also attacked their neighbour. The press and Parliament had both continuously questioned him over whether or not the Commonwealth was at a state of war after the assault on New Babylon. It was a question he would soon answer once this meeting was concluded.

"Yes?" Admiral Lindberg answered an incoming call beside him. After brief couple of seconds he announced to him "Premier, the _Royal Guardian_ has just exited out of FTL above orbit"

"Thank you Admiral, give them permission to land" James nodded then looked up at the sky, listening to Lindberg give confirmation. For a moment he wondered if the Chimera were actually going to land the behemoth dreadnought onto the runway, a sight that would no doubt give the gathered audience and citizens around the UEC capital city something else to talk about besides the visit.

After a few minutes several objects made their way through the clouds, flying down on the spaceport's position. A shuttle descending down with an escort of both _Wasp_ superiority fighters from the CSF and a squadron of _Revenant_ interceptors from the Empire's own Naval forces. As it soundlessly hovered over the tarmac surface of the runway the fighters dispersed back to the sky, leaving it to safely land on the homeworld of humanity.

"On we go" He said walking down the red carpet with his welcoming committee in tow. By the time he reached the five metre mark from the shuttle the landing bay door to the elegantly shaped, silver beetle like craft opened up without so much as a hiss, releasing a platform from beneath the doorway.

The first to step out of the shuttle was the Imperial Bodyguard, six heavily black armoured soldiers carrying seven foot tall energy staffs taking up the flanks stopping within a metre of himself. The next was a group of five and two blue orb droids, three women and two men, one in purple light armour and the other in dark brown heavier armour coming down the platform all following the lead of the one person centred in Chimeran society.

"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Earth once again" He and the rest of his greeting company gave a bow to Empress Nissaya.

"Thank you Premier James Cartwright, it's always a great pleasure to visit the birthplace of your species. It is a shame our being here involves the tedious involvement of conflict" She said kindly in the soft, almost human sounding voice Chimeran woman unusually had, compared to that of the deep, gruff tones of the males. She then did something James would not of expected her to do, she extended her hand out for handshake.

He willingly accepted her offered hand and felt her hand firm grip onto his, a little too firmly as he tried not to show the slight tinge of pain that shot into his hand. James was sure that behind their helmets the bodyguards were watching his every move around the Empire's beloved head of state. After she released her hand from his she turned, indicating her hand to the more lightly armoured pair standing behind her.

"Our sentiments are the same, Empress Nissaya"

"May I introduce Supreme Admiral Tirus Nicar'on and Lord General Mikon Yuku'las" Both gave him a small bow "They shall be joining us in our discussion over the Confederacy issue"

For a second he was confused as to who she was referring to when it clicked from the intel report he received it was the other name for the alien government who attacked New Babylon.

"Very well, then allow me to introduce Generals Bill Terrance and Michael Collinson, Admiral Jussi Lindberg and Director Rachel Aguero of the Intelligence Bureau" He presented, all of whom except Aguero who remained away from the greetings.

"An honour to meet you all. Shall we continue this conversation and other important issues in a less open venue?"

"Of course your Majesty, this way" He fell into step with the Empress, inclining his hand down the red carpet to the awaiting transports at the end. The others walked behind them with the bodyguard moving in parallel on the sides, her handmaidens and the orb droids following closely behind.

"Present arms!" The Sergeant Major ordered the honour guard, all 60 marines unshouldering the rifles and holding the obsolete weapon with each hand close to their bodies.

"Tell me Premier, what are those weapons your warriors are holding?" She asked him looking over at the assembled marines who all stood to attention, their eyes fixed ahead of them standing deathly still.

"Those are bolt action rifles used in our last major internal conflict over six hundred years ago, before the Chimer-uh, Purists invaded" James corrected himself, knowing that their guests and ally disliked being compared to their hated enemy "It's a tradition of our armed forces to retain them for ceremonial purposes"

"Not that different to our own. It is strange two cultures evolved from different periods of time and space have such similarities, although there are quite stark differences that we struggle to understand about humans"

"The same could be said about your people, your Majesty" Director Aguero piped in, her tone sounding a little callous. He stopped as the Chimeran Empress did so turning to the IB Director, who didn't look at all apologetic at her rudeness toward their guest.

"Indeed, Director Rachel Aguero. Perhaps when war is not the centre issue we can debate those differences" Like many if not all humans, James had trouble working out the facial expressions of the Chimera. Their faces always seemed to be locked into a permanent frown, the lack of a visible nose and lips to cover the distinctive long, sharp teeth. Her amber coloured eyes common amongst her species had no pupils just a plain colour, staring blankly without movement at the Director.

"If you wish, Empress" The head of the Intelligence Bureau gave a respectful nod then glanced to him. They resumed going down to the waiting vehicles at the end of the walkway consisting of three armoured limos and a police escort taking up the front and rear. After answering a couple more inquires about the marine honour guard James reached the middle limousine where the driver stood by the backseat, opening the door on their approach.

"After you your Highness" He let her, the handmaidens, Julia and the floating droids in first seeing the Imperial bodyguard lining up at the front limo, their large frames having some trouble getting in. The rear limo had the military chiefs from both sides and Director Aguero climbing in, the police bikes taking up position once everyone was in and two Buzzard dropships hovering their location along with a couple civilian craft from the media recording the visit.

Once everyone was in he nodded to the head of the escort then climbed in, taking a seat next to Nissaya on the backseat. On the side seats sat his assistant and the handmaidens opposite the clear bullet proof windows, the midday sun reflecting of the shining black interior of the long vehicle. In the corner of his eye he saw the sunlight also shine off the top of a concealed sidearm in the belt of one of the handmaidens.

The convoy starting rolling, the roads with miles long barriers and police standing guard as Geneva's inhabitants lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the Premier and Chimeran Empress together as they headed to the parliamentary buildings. James spotted a few banners hanging over the barriers, some welcoming whilst others not so much. Still after five hundred fifty years there was animosity toward the Chimera, in spite of the Imperials stressing the Purists involvement but people had trouble telling the difference. All Chimera were the same in their book.

"Will we be passing Sentinel Square, Premier?"

"Yes your Majesty, it is located in front our government buildings so we'll be passing it"

"Our information regarding your planet's landmarks are limited to the few visitors from the Empire to have wandered your world. Who are the four statues in dedication to in Sentinel Square?" She asked turning to face him from her gazing out of the window.

"They're the four great heroes of the War. Nathan Hale, Joseph Capelli, James Grayson and Yuji Taniguchi. The War produced many heroes who pulled off great feats but these men are more in line to legends among our people" He told her of Earth's prominent heroes, figures many young soldiers look up to for inspiration.

The stories of Hale and Capelli were the more widely spoken of or portrayed in films and dramas. The two super soldiers of the famed Sentinels of SRPA with the latter having to kill the former because he succumbed to the virus after destroying Daedalus, who years later brought down a terraformer to cut the Tower's link to the wormhole. One such Tower was visible a few miles from parliament as a relic.

Then there was Grayson, a Royal Marine who played a huge part in liberating Western Europe from Chimeran control and for unknown reasons deserted after, went on later to single handedly destroy conversion centres as far as the Russian border. To this day James was like everybody else waiting for the day when somebody would find out what became of him. Taniguchi was revered more so in Asia and South Asian dominated colonies than anywhere in the world, mostly because he was credited for kicking the Chimera out of occupied Japan and leading the counter attack in other Asian nations soon after.

"We have heard of these humans. Some of our Generals have a difficulty believing the exploits of these warriors" Before he could reply he caught sight of Julia pressing onto her earpiece, talking to the whoever was on the other end.

"Pardon me Premier, I've just received word all arrangements have been completed"

"Thank you Julia" For the rest of the journey James spoke casually answering the Empress' inquires into several subjects, avoiding the topic of the current affairs for now.

They eventually drove into the deserted roads of Sentinel Square, spectators continued to the line the streets and a fair few were perched by the statues in front of the parliamentary building landscape. Four stone well built sculpture standing 35 feet tall, all in a circle with their backs to each other holding the weapons they favourably used during the Chimeran War.

The limos all stopped at the mouth of the entrance to the Commonwealth Parliament, a tall and wide building shaped like an ancient Roman structure but with a more modern look. A Steward came over and opened the door letting him out first then James offered his hand to the Empress who took it, her cape falling down her frame as she stepped out gazing up at Parliament.

The military chiefs all dispersed out of the back limo with Aguero coming out last. A commotion from the front limo got everybody's attention as five of the bodyguards were speaking to presumably the last one within the limo, a loud rattling echoing out of the armoured car.

"Is there a problem Jikus?"

"One of the energy staffs has lodged into the speeder's floor my Empress" The armoured guard replied back, Nissaya letting out a an amused 'humpf'. The bodyguard soon pulled the long weapon out with the screeching of metal, the limo chauffeur not looking at all happy from the wrecking of his vehicle.

Walking up the steps with camera drones taking snaps and dozens of reporters shouting questions to them over the caught on Battle of New Babylon and Imperial involvement, James and their Empire counterparts finally reached the confines of the governing building of the entire UEC. Behind him he heard General Terrance conversing with the Chimeran Lord General, passing by Members of Parliament and other staff who stopped their own conversations or duties to watch them walk by.

The meeting room they were heading to had two armed guards at the doors who snapped to attention once they heard him coming. With a nod from him the guards opened up the double doors to the space room, a large wooden oval table dominating the room. Usually the room was for his cabinet when new legislations, policies and the like were made before getting the approval from the rest of the MPs, only now it was for possible changing the Commonwealth's future forever in a way he never dreamed of.

"Take a seat, please" James indicated to the chairs. On her side she had all but four bodyguards who opted to stay outside, the two that came in standing on the far ends of the table with her handmaidens behind her. Now they were all seated James stayed silent as Nissaya began the talks.

"Premier Cartwright as you are fully aware we both have encounter this new threat to both our civilisations, been attacked without provocation or reason. I think it is in our interests to work together to put a stop to this Confederacy of Independent Systems before they launch another offensive against our peoples" For a moment James was a little taken aback by the proposal since he was expecting to be the one asking for their assistance, not the other way round.

"I agree Empress. So the rumours of the incursions were true?" He could feel Aguero's eyes on him briefly after his question. Of course he knew it to be true, he recieved her report on the invasion into the Empire on the first week which is why he had the UECAF go on high alert and strengthen all colony worlds as best as possible.

"Yes, I ordered our ambassador to withhold all information regarding the engagements. We, judging by the actions of your species if news spread, thought it best so not to cause panic and disorder in your nation"

"So you kept quiet because you wanted to protect us?" Lindberg enquired in his thick Finnish accent.

"In a way. We wanted to know who these aliens were, if they posed a real threat and where they came from"

"And what did you find?" James inquired next.

"When our forces engaged them for the first time we assumed it was a trick from your government as the head of the invasion was a human" The Chimeran to the right of Nissaya, the one she called Supreme Admiral though the name escaped him. "But we later sent units aboard their vessels and found other alien species aboard, along with thousands of war droids"

"And the information we obtained from both them and the ship's databanks showed they came from a different part of the galaxy, a much bigger society" The Lord General's words stunned him and no doubt the other delegates.

"They broke away from another nation called the Galactic Republic, a government larger than the Empire and your Commonwealth put together. For this was one of the reasons we never attempted contact with them in the past"

"Wait, you know who these people are?" James said in astonishment at Nissaya dropping an unexpected bombshell.

"Not those who invaded us, but we know of the Republic" She let out a sigh before continuing "During the fourth year of our war with the Purists the Empire was on the brink of collapse, there was period some in the High Council wanted to outright surrender to the fascists in fear of more monstrosities but others were angered by their cowardice. We were close to civil war when we seized an unknown ship entering into one of our systems"

"I take it this was when you met these Republic guys, correct?" Aguero spoke up, concluding the story.

"Not as such. Once we took the vessel we found only one person was present, a human. She said she belonged to this Galactic Republic and a religious order called the Jedi, an order that defends them. We took her in and she informed us of everything of the Republic. My ancestor and the High Council did not take a liking to them, they were too chaotic, corrupt. Since then it has been our policy to avoid opening relations with them"

"And you never thought to tell us that there's another civilisation out there?" General Terrance quizzed next, saying what they were all thinking.

"We thought it best to keep you away from these beings"

"With all due respect your Highness but what gives you the Goddamn right to decide how **we** -?!" Collinson's tempered outburst got him an angered growl from the bodyguards and a energy staff threateningly close to his throat.

"Stand down!" She ordered, glaring at the overzealous guard pulling up his staff and returned to attention "My sincerest apologies, General"

"All is forgiven Empress" The startled Marine General said, he too glaring at the offending guard.

"However General Collinson is right, it isn't your decision to decide how we go about our business" James persisted feeling slightly peeved by the Chimera's decision making without their consent over such an issue.

"Her Imperial Highness was not exaggerating when she said they are chaotic, Premier" The Lord General spoke again "We have studied extensively from the data of their governance and history and found they are even more volatile than yourselves"

"I've never knew of alliances being formed by trading insults to each other" Lindberg commented in sarcasm.

"It was not meant as an offence"

"You are right Admiral. I came here because the Empire will be declaring war against the Confederacy and I personally hope that a joint declaration will show these aggressors unity against those who would trample and disregard our ways of life" She declared staring straight at him, her eyes locking onto his own with fiery passion and conviction.

James felt as if all the energy of the universe was upon him, the lives of billions across the entire UEC from Earth to the further colony world on the rim of their borders rested on his next words. He never believed in all his wildest dreams he would be the one leading the human race against an alien invasion. Both human and Chimeran eyes pinned on him waiting for his answer, an answer that could either be the end of his administration or boost it.

"I'm with you Empress. A declaration of war however must be passed through the Commons, we are a democracy after all so it will be the people's decision"

"I understand"

"Perhaps Premier you should let her Highness address the Commons, it could boost chances of an agreement" He heard Aguero come up with a surprising offer, making him worry a bit over why she was suddenly so eager for war.

"Would you do so?" He asked her taking up the Director's suggestion.

"I would be honoured. As a gesture of good faith we'll send all data we have on the Confederacy" Her offer caused the Supreme Admiral and Lord General to look at her as best describe as shock.

"Thank you your Majesty" She stood up from her chair, James and everyone else quickly following suit "An alliance between humanity and the Chimera will show all outside aggressors that fighting us will be the biggest mistake of they could ever commit" He offered his hand over the table, the Empress shaking it less firmly and her mouth twitching into a Chimeran equivalent of a smile.

War was looming but the human race will not be alone in this fight.


	11. Scapegoat

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 **Throne Room, Dooku's Palace, Serenno, Confederacy of Independent Systems space**

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To say he was angry would of been a monumental understatement for the Sith Lord. Staring at the lime green circular window and it's decorative pattern carved into the expensive glass he recounted the two separate reports he received, one reliable and the other missing many details out from his faults. It was simple mission that turned out to be a huge disaster and the fear from the man responsible was all he could sense around the room.

Keeping up his usual calm demeanour he turned from the window to see Admiral Laden still kneeling on the floor, his head down and his second in command a T series tactical droid, it's designated number TO-17. Commando droids stood at attention in rows running along the sides of the room, their emotionless faces fixed ahead. He walked over to his metallic desk peering his yellow eyes down at the culprit as he scooped up a datapad he read over at least twice since he was informed of the botched mission.

"I've just been going over your report Admiral" The Count said glancing at the pad for a few seconds "To say that I'm happy with your results would be a lie of great proportions"

"My Lord if I could explain-"

"Silence!" Dooku seethed at the man "I ordered you to establish a base of operations for future invasions into Republic and neutral systems. But instead you have given the Separatist Alliance two new enemies, whose strength has proven to have the very high potential of becoming a great threat to our cause" He slammed the pad down on the desk.

"I had attempted to establish a dialogue but both were rejected outright and they attacked us" He tried defending himself with a lie so poorly conjured that even a lowly citizen could tell without the assistance of the Force. Dooku gave Laden a hard glare, making the weak man drop his head back to the floor like a true submissive coward.

"Tee Zero Seventeen, is Admiral Laden's statement correct?"

" **No Count Dooku, Admiral Laden's actions were aggressive and reckless. He had threatened both factions with violence and claimed to be doing it in your name, my Lord. After of which he had invaded the world's belonging to both factions** " The tactical droid recounted from it's earlier report. The Admiral snapped his head in shock, his face twisted into an expression of fear whilst glancing up at the unsympathetic droid.

"Th-that's no true. He is lying my Lord, they were the aggressors!" He tried protesting his innocence but the Count had enough.

"Laden you have put our government in jeopardy. Our struggle for independence and right of existence has now become an even greater hardship because of your failure!. I do not need to tell you of the punishment for such an act of treason" He looked up at the approaching figure behind the snivelling Admiral.

"P-please Count, I have did everything you ask-" A snap hiss echoed around the room as Laden's chest was illuminated by a light green plasma blade impalement, the searing hot weapon taken from a fallen Jedi as a trophy from its owner went through his heart. A look of horror was on Laden's face for a brief time before being replaced by his eyes closing shut for the finally time, as Grievous snuffed the incompetent Naval officer's life out.

"Please dispose of the mess" He coldly commanded to a pair of Commando droids, not paying any more attention to the dead fool. He sat on his throne chair and began reading the little information they had on their new foes and their capabilities. It was always said the Unknown Regions possessed many strange places with the possibility of threatening the known galaxy and here was a good example of it.

It was an interesting contrast to say the least between the two new powers Laden had found and idiotically provoked. One was an highly advanced civilisation and the other was relatively on par with both the Confederacy and the Republic, but only much smaller in terms of territory.

The biggest worry Dooku had was this 'Chimeran Empire' the Admiral had first attacked. He foolishly believed they were an small, early spacefaring power and the worlds he had attacked were just all they had, until the tactical droid pointed out in the report that it predicted these aliens had many more. Data recovered from the ground and space battles showed frightening results with grave consequences if a possible peace treaty wasn't established with this government.

The task force the Sith had gathered numbered up to 100 ships to both spread Separatist influence and establish a new strategic front against the Republic but of the vast fleet he ordered out, only four ships returned. The power of these Chimeran ships was unlike anything he had ever seen before. They came in a range of sizes and the number that came to counter the invasion into their empire supported the claim the had more worlds.

If everything the droid had reported was in fact accurate then they were in serious trouble. The Chimeran warships ripped theirs to shreds to a frightening degree and their soldiers far out classed any of the droid units deployed in the conflict. A very powerful energy cannon used by these aliens was said to destroy a fully shielded cruiser in just one shot.

Then there was the other one which they had even less information on called the 'United Earth Commonwealth', a human government by all limited accounts. They fared better against these people, on more equal footing when it came to another disastrous attack. At first it amused him that they used primitive based weapons but nonetheless held their own until the Chimeran Empire intervened and supported this Commonwealth.

The assumptions made was one; they knew of each other and two; they were likely allies. Had Laden conducted it correctly Dooku was certain he could of got both governments on his side to eventually join the war effort, especially these Chimera. Unfortunately now a new front looked to be opening on the many growing in this war, a front they really could not afford to fight on since statistics were showing of a Republic victory within a year.

He had sent these reports off to his Master and was still waiting for a response, one of which the Count was sure was not going to be a pleasant one. If these two factions entered the war all his Master's plans would without a doubt be put on on hold. Right now however he had to think of a way to halt an invasion from these two governments. If the Republic and Jedi got wind of this they would seek them out and try coaxing them into joining them on their side, a prospect the Sith Lord could allow to happen.

"Grievous" He called over the cyborg General.

"Yes, my Lord?" He asked him in his slightly wheezing voice.

"I need you to halt off your attack on the Toydaria system" He pressed his back into the chair.

"My Lord, the fleet is ready. If we don't leave now we-"

"Grievous!" He interrupted the head of the Droid Army "A new situation has arose that we can't afford to dismiss" Pressing a button on his desk, a holo image of an alien popped up "Do you know what this is?"

"No" Grievous glanced at the image. Dooku could sense the frustration from the Kaleesh cyborg.

"This is called a Chimeran, a species of which the late Admiral had invoked the wrath of after attempting to conquer their territory" The Count glanced down briefly at the spinning image, looking at the heavily armoured alien with an appearance to a creature that said to be living in the Chaos.

Most of the limited recordings displayed all of them had their faces covered by helmets except for one droid managed, before being destroyed, captured one. The being was estimated to be over seven foot tall and the facial structure of the alien would disturb many.

"So?"

"At this moment in time it doesn't take a genius to sum up we could be facing a counter invasion from these beings. Right now I need you to send the fleet to bolster the defences around our controlled systems near the Unknown regions"

"We will beat them back just as we have with the Jedi, many times and with no mercy" He curled a metal fist in complete conviction of his statement.

"I wouldn't be so sure General" The Sith stood up from his chair, walking back over to the green tinted window "The reports I received from Tee Zero showed remarkable strength from this empire that could cause a devastating blow to our forces"

"What of the other you spoke off?" He quizzed him, standing in the same spot.

"It is likely they'll be making an appearance but it is not them who worry me. Be prepared to depart within the hour" Dooku ordered his top General, keeping his eyes on the outside.

"Yes, my Lord" He heard the clanging of Grievous' clawed feet head out, leaving him the only organic being in the room. His thoughts remained on the oncoming storm the CIS were about to endure. Though he wasn't great a believer of peace he hoped this time it would work out, only now he would have to inform the Parliament of one man's dreadful mistake.

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 **Chancellor's Office, Senate Office Building, Coruscant**

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Sidious kept his mastered persona of Chancellor Palpatine as he waited patiently for this meeting to finally end and review the interesting pieces of information his apprentice had sent him earlier. Though it bored him to listen to yet another discussion on sending aid to hard hit area of the Republic suffering from the war, he had to at least put on a show to these soft hearted fools he pretending to care.

"I'm afraid it is getting late and I have one more important meeting to attend to before the day is out" He stood up from his desk, the other Senators doing so too.

"Hopefully this can be resolved before the next supply ships are sent out, Chancellor" The Senator from his homeworld said gave a small bow to him.

"Of course Padme, it's my hopes too" He gave her false smile. Deep down he wished to rid her, her usefulness to his goals was waning but she was the personal interest of a certain Jedi he had plans for.

Watching each one leave his office was a relief and his fake interest evaporated immediately after the door at the end of his office closed. Other matters were of more concern to him than a system battered by the war, like why had his apprentice allow a large task force to venture into the Unknown Regions and potentially bring two new sides into the chaos that was the Clone Wars.

Sitting down at his desk he punched in his security code bringing up highly sensitive, top level information transmitted to him from his second from the Confederacy. There was little information on one side called the 'United Earth Commonwealth' but the other, this 'Chimeran Empire' grabbed his attention. Beings with a military capable of obliterating a whole invasion force in a short space of time was a troubling subject. It was written these beings possessed highly advanced technology and weapons that would put both the GAR and Droid Army to shame.

The report stated a high chance of a counter invasion was inevitable and resources needed in the fight against the Jedi and the Grand Army of the Republic would have to be diverted, weakening their forces. No matter, he thought to himself. It was likely his plans were going to have to change or put on hold until this new threat was dealt with, however there was opportunity here.

For now he would wait and see the next course of action these governments were going to take, then work out a way to try and get them to side with the Republic. To open relations with an empire with such technology at their disposal could help him in his plans to rid the blasted Jedi Order forever and accomplish the plans of generations of Sith.

Then again it could cause other problems. What if they didn't want to join in his help to combat the Separatists, what if they turn on them too. At this point he knew it was all speculation, he would have to see these newcomers have in mind in the next few weeks. For now he would have to keep this information to himself when the time was right, find out their intentions and see how thing go from here.

Nothing was going to stop him from accomplishing his ambitions.


	12. Preparations

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 **Army Barracks, UECAF Military Base, Valhalla, Asgard System, UEC Space**

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The activity around the base was the busiest and most vibrant Ben had ever seen since he had enlisted at the age of 18. Non stop troop movements and raw recruits arriving, equipment being shifted everywhere and air traffic from both civilian and military transport had increased greatly ever since the Premier's declaration of war against the people response for the attack on New Babylon. Cartwright's speech and the image of him sharing a podium with the Chimeran Empress were shown nearly every hour from all networks, reporting on the biggest event that rivalled that of the Chimeran War over 500 years ago.

The 115th Assault Regiment had been recalled back to Valhalla, much to the disgruntlement of the New Babylonian government over what they see as leaving them defenceless, with a great portion of their numbers returning home in flag draped coffins. A third of his fellow comrades were the first casualties in a war he nor anyone else in the UECAF or maybe in the entire Commonwealth had ever imagined to ever come about. There was always that inkling that there was life out there other than both humans and Chimera but all their focus when it came to an external threat was the Purists, or the Empire itself.

Four days since they've been back and Ben could see the mood around the barracks was finally starting to lift up, though the likes of Muller was still mourning over the loss of their friends. Couldn't say he blame them but Ben knew they had to snap out of it before heading out to face this new foe.

"That was probably the longest call I've had to make to my parents since boot camp" Ben looked from his UNICOM as Dan walked in, going over to his bedside cabinet.

"How they taking the news?"

"As expected" He took out a pad and tucked it into one of the side pockets of the Battle Suit "It's been the talk all across Tau Ceti and no doubt all over the Commonwealth. Have you spoke with your mom yet?"

"Yeah I just came off the vidcall a few minutes ago" After landing back on and returning to barracks Ben saw he had over a dozen calls and messages from his mum, all pleading he'd pick up. Though she used to be a marine and knew about military procedure, an alien invasion was a circumstance that obviously got many from all areas of life on edge.

It was the first time he had ever seen her worried the way she was once she answered the call, stopping tears from forming in her eyes at seeing him again. They spoke for half an hour exchanging information on events back on the Outer Colony and the reaction around Earth, many other families trying to find out whether not someone close had survived the ordeal.

"Hear anything from Pires or the Colonel yet?" Dan asked him zipping his duffel bag.

"Nope. I think they're still stuck in meetings with top brass over what they're going to do with us and the others now that the whole UECAF seems to be bundled up here" The Corporal said going back to UNICOM, turning off the article he was reading and pulling up his finished bag "Let's go see what the others are up to"

Pulling the strap of the duffel bag over his shoulder he lead the way out of their shared quarters, Dan pressing on the lock pad before departing out the building. A convoy of eight Cheetahs drove past them as they waited for them to clear the road, soldiers from different regiments standing around all over the place yattering on about all sorts of subjects. The high pitch whine of the newly made _Wasp_ superiority fighters brought his eyes to the sky for a second, their sleek long nosed bodies screeching over their position toward the other side of the massive base.

Entering into the barracks they walked down the corridor, the rooms they passed by were near empty except for a number of troops speaking on vidcalls. He spotted Vic and Natalie waiting outside the quarters she and Michelle shared with a couple other women of the regiment, talking civil to each other for once.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" They both turned around at the approaching pair.

"Just waiting for Michelle to finish talking with her father" Vic thumbed to the open door room. Ben peeked and saw her staring at the tele screen, standing with her arms folded rolling her eyes at the person on the other end of the call.

"I'm a grown woman dad, you don't need to worry about me so much. I can take of myself"

" _I know but you're still my baby girl, Shelly. You and I both know you can't contact anyone on the outside until command gives permission but your mother has been worried sick since the attack. Shame she isn't here now, she'd loved to speak with you right now_ "

"I know" She sighed, her annoyed expression switched into a small smile. Her eyes shifted to him then back to screen "I gotta go now dad, duty calls"

" _Very well, take care of yourself out there sweetheart. I want to hear about all your ventures out there in the galaxy with the uglies when you get back, you hear?"_

"Got it. Tell the boys I said hi and send my love to mom"

" _Will do. See you later Shelly, love you_ "

"Bye dad, love you too" She gave one last smile than ended the call. Scooping up her bag she left the room and completed the quad sized team waiting outside for her.

"You didn't have to cut short your call" Ben told her frowning lightly.

"Nah it's alright, if I didn't get off soon he would talked my ear off for hours"

"What about you two, have you made calls back home yet?" Dan quizzed the other pair.

"I spoke with my father and brother earlier" Natalie said throwing her bag over her shoulder "They say the talk on Haven has been nothing but the battle"

"I had a quick talk with my aunt back in Belgrade, everything is good" Vic shrugged next. Repetitive beeping came from all their UNICOMs and a few others near by from the 115th, causing them to all open up the message inbox and see a priority notice from Colonel Hall stand out from all the other junk.

 **PERSONNEL OF THE 115TH ARE TO MEET AT TRAINING CENTRE FOXTROT AT 16:00. DO NOT BE LATE.**

"Wonder what Hall has us doing now?" Michelle said aloud what they were all thinking.

"Well it's three thirty four and Training Centre Foxtrot isn't far from here, so check you've got everything then we'll make our way down there" Ben said checking over his wrist device.

Leaving the barracks behind the Corporal lead the way with his squad to the designated building of choice for what the head of their regiment wanted. He saw several others he recognised make their way too amongst the busy crowd of troops, all waiting for further orders on deployment or what High Command had planned for their joint counter attack into this 'Confederacy of Independent Systems'. He hadn't watched any of the interviews yet detailing information generously given by the Chimera over their new enemy, who have said to gained a wealth of intel by boarding and seizing control of several Confederates ships.

The training centre came into view, looking identical to the others as a boxy shaped complex with an arched glass roof with 'TC-06-FOXTROT' in block letters written above the tall metal doors. Ben saw Henrik and Pires waiting by the entrance of the Combat Simulator Room watching the troops walk in.

"What's going on Captain?"

"All will be revealed Colton. Come hurry up, the Colonel's waiting" Pires ordered them all inside with Henrik's assistance. Choosing an area designed for placing people in pods built into the wall for computer simulated combat training sessions with a whole regiment size crowd for a meeting, was starting to turn into a bad idea. A few had jumped up and were sitting on top the pods themselves, whilst everyone else was going up stairs to the different levels or squeezing in on the ground floor like he and his team were doing so.

Up on the platform by the simulator's main control console Ben saw four human officers and a Chimeran, watching as what remained of the 115th gathered into claustrophobic spacing.

"General Cheng, what is he doing here?" Dan questioned as others murmured around them at the General's presence. Even the Chimeran standing alongside the small group of UECAF officers wasn't as imposing as General Kwong Cheng, the Army's best top brass officer in the opinion of many if not all soldiers of the UECAF.

To this day it baffled everyone in the lower ranks how a war hero who near single handedly fought off a battalions worth of Legion terrorists, with a scar running down his eye as proof of his feat, and widely popular amongst the troops wasn't given the job of of Army representative on the Armed Forces Council. Giving it to Terrance, a man with little experience who spent most of his time with politicians was criticised by the most in the military and the Press, titling it as 'Penpusher over Soldier'.

"All right boys and girls listen up!" Colonel Hall called out now everyone was presumable inside "We have two special guests here today who will be telling you of our deployment plans for the upcoming war. I'm sure you all know this is General Cheng. I'm going to let him take over from here for the little surprise he and our Imperial friends have in store for us" As the Colonel stood aside to let Cheng continue with the speech, Ben heard a few whispers between others around him over Hall's statement.

"I would like to start by saying it is an honour and a privilege to finally meet the men and women who fought off these devils. I could give you some pre written speech on your sacrifice and bravery but I wouldn't want to show up the Premier" Chuckles rang across the crowd, even getting Ben to crack a smile "As you are all aware ever, since the attack on New Babylon we have been assembling all units to form new divisions and picking targets our Chimeran allies have presented us with" He nodded over to the alien.

"How generous of them" Michelle sarcastically whispered in his ear.

"Rather than give you an hours worth of explaining, I will get straight to the point. The reason behind the delay of the First Frontier Division's deployment is because our _illustrious_ leaders have decided to dismantle it" Shocked looks on everyone's face and lively chatter echoed all around the room at the news. Ben could see on own Cheng's face he didn't like it either but as he continued the added information didn't help quell the others "The 115th, 32nd, 89th and the 20th Marines who will be joining you, will be attached to the 14th Imperial Army Division alongside the regiments who supported you in driving out the Separatists"

"I can't believe this" He heard Michelle's voice mutter beside him, amongst the grumbling and heated callings out from the troops around him. Ben shared their sentiment in that he wasn't overly fond about being under the command of Chimera, even if they did save them on New Babylon. This was no doubt a political stunt to show cooperation against a foreign aggressor but being under the command of an alien government wasn't comforting.

A raised hand from General Cheng signalling them for them all to shut up quietened them all down.

"With me is Lord General Yuku'las, he is the head of the Imperial Army and he wishes to speak to over this new arrangement. Show him the same courtesy you would give any UECAF officer" He stood aside as the dark browned armoured Chimeran stood forward, his eyes gazing out to them all.

"Warriors of humanity, I understand this is not to your liking. However I'm here to assure you, you'll be treated no different than a warrior of the Empire" He told them in a deep, flanging voice "There was a great spirit of cooperation between both you and our forces sent to assist you in defending your colony against the beings wishing to control us. Because of this it was decided to have you join these units again, continue this spirit" The mood around suddenly became less hostile as the Lord General spoke some more.

"Do you have any idea what he's on about?" Victor asked behind him.

"Who knows, probably some spiritual crap meant to soften us"

"Come on Michelle, at least he's bothering to try and lighten the tension" Ben said back, seeing her still bristling.

"Shut up, the three of you" Henrik growled to them, pointing the trio back to the still speaking Chimeran officer.

"...14th Imperial Army will be leading the ground forces but ships of the 238th Flotilla will incorporate into Second Fleet of your Navy. As of now this will be the only joint Imperial-Commonwealth fighting unit, so do not be hastened by the attention from both our governments will be giving you" The speech went on for a little while longer as Ben listened to how the command structure was to work out. It sounded simple enough, the Chimera would be in charge of the troops on the ground whilst the CSF commanded the Naval matters.

He thought it wasn't only taking orders from the uglies that were going to cause problems but no doubt they'll be cultural clashes. It was always noted Chimeran troops were very strict and followed an order without a second thought, even if the command was questionable moral. The upside was at least they'll have high end powerful weapons on their side and plenty of experienced troops to fight the robots in their own territory.

"That is all I have for you in this moment in time. Perhaps with our peoples working together successfully, more mixed units of human and Chimera will be established to help end tyranny and bring peace to the galaxy"

"Thank you, Lord General" The two exchanged a bow before Cheng returned speaking to them "I'm going to pass you back to your CO and in a few days time you'll be sent out to face the enemy in their own systems, their planets. Good luck out there, hopefully I'll be able to join you sooner rather than later" Ben watched as he turned to hall and nodded at him to come forward, leaving with the Chimeran General out the back door of the room.

"Alright listen up folks. I want you to pack everything you gonna need and enjoy the last few days of freedom before we get on with this war. I suggest calling up loved ones and tell them they won't be seeing you for awhile. Dismissed!" The room was suddenly filled with the conversations of the departing troops, the topics unsurprisingly on the what was just said to in the cramped venue.

"So it's really happening, huh?" Dan was the first to speak out of the squad.

"Fighting under the uglies command is going to be an experienced I never dreamed of" Michelle sighed, still unhappy about the prospect of fighting alongside the Imperials.

"I didn't dream of fighting a robot army from the other side of the galaxy either" Natalie said dodging past a fellow one-one-fiver.

"So let us get our last drinks at the Hags Arms before kicking the metal menaces from one end of the galaxy to other"

"Sounds like a plan, Vic" Ben agreed with him, just as they reached the exit of the Training Centre. If there's one thing the Serbian always surprised them with is his patriotism.

"Yeah, for all we know they won't be any pubs out there half as good as the Hag and I never known the Chimeran to drink" Ben couldn't help but shape his head in amusement. Out of all the things to worry about at starting the first ever galactic wide war with a government a lot bigger than themselves, lack of alcohol was one of his friends' major concerns

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 **Officers Lounge Area,** _ **Subjugation**_ **-** **class cruiser** _ **Redemption's Fire**_ **, Valhalla orbit, Commonwealth Space**

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Vicus sat reading through the data of the new acquisitions to the 14th Imperial Army. Instead of adding Chimeran regiments to the understrength division somebody thought it would be a grand idea to put together human troops with his warriors. There was already disgruntlement at having aliens not within the Empire joining an Imperial unit, especially a race seen as reckless and impulsive.

So far he had finished reading up on the 115th Assault Regiment, 32nd Armoured Brigade and the 89th Infantry. He had seen the first of the three in action on their colony world New Babylon, the other two according to the data had seen much action against the Purist remnants. All three had good records but he still preferably wanted his own people fighting under his command.

"Still getting to know our new friends, Vicus?" He heard Iros' amused voice as he sat down opposite to him. The sound of a glass container sliding across the table brought his attention to a full _Ukon_ beverage drink now in front of him.

"It is a competent Commander's duty to know the warriors he'll be serving with" He replied to his friend, taking the drink offered to him.

"I hear we are fighting with the same soldiers we helped in our last battle with Separatists"

"Yes. How will you find serving as second to a human Admiral?" Vicus asked the High Captain, who shrugged his shoulders back at his question.

"Different. The Flotilla will remain under my command I'm assured. At least I get to see how the primates fight a space battle, just as you will their army" Iros finished by taking a gulp of his beverage.

"Did you not tell me that there is insubordination amongst some of their officers?" The Commander quizzed, referring to the heated exchanged between the surviving ship Captain and Admiral of the CSF Second Fleet his friend walked in on.

"It was understandable in his case. If I was promised reinforcements to battle against such overwhelming odds and they didn't turn up, I too would be irate. Her excuse was their version of High Command ordered them to remain behind for the time being, despite her continuous protesting"

"All the same. If you have anarchy in the ranks, do not be surprised when chaos consumes the spirits of the soldiers you lead" He told him, reciting an ancient proverb.

"It didn't go that far. Will you be leading the humans on the ground?"

"Technically I am to share command with the human, Colonel Frank Hall. However since my experience exceeds his own, I'm considered senior to him. Lord General Yuku'las will officially be in charge of the unit" He said pressing down on the pad's button, the data screen evaporating back into the device.

"Then it appears we may have the best fighting unit in both the Empire and Commonwealth military forces" Vicus stopped drinking and looked back at the High Captain.

"What makes you say that?"

"You are not the only one to read up on our allies Hikar'an. They are a strange species but if they are like anything I've read on their history, then combining the strengths of both our kind and theirs will make us a force not seen since the Purist War" Before Vicus could ask him to elaborate the Naval officer stood up from the table, holding on to his empty container "I must finish off the remaining reports before meeting with Admiral Keller. Talk to you at a later time, my friend" And with that he left him to dwell.

Vicus sat for a moment confused by Tuchar'an's words. Humans were not like them, they were not as martial as a society compared to his people and unlike the primates all Chimera were taught the arts of war in childhood irrelevant of their future trade in life. The goal in life of every true Chimeran was the preservation of the Empire, whereas the humans changed almost on a decade basis and kept on switching their leaders. Democracy had some purpose in his people's way of life but too much can cause a great deal of trouble but the Commonwealthers didn't seem to care.

Then again Master Kuric came from such a place and she too was human, although of a different species of human. Perhaps there was some truth in his friend's words but the war ahead will prove whether or not the humans were capable warriors, or just a nuisance to put of with for the sake of unity against a bigger threat.


	13. Calm Before The Storm

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 **Meeting Room, CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **,** **FTL Space, En Route to Separatist Alliance controlled System of Byzral**

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Eiji stood patiently as he examined the battle map currently being projected in the middle of the _Amazon_ 's Meeting Room, taking in all the information Admiral Keller and Lord General Yuku'las had planned out for the battle ahead. Only four people were physically present and studying the map too whilst the other dozen or so Naval, Army and Marine officers from other ships were 'standing' in the spacious room in holo form. The holo image of the planet in question was one of many to face the backlash of the failed invasion of both human and Chimeran territory from this so called 'Separatist Alliance', or as the Lieutenant commander had heard in one single word repeated many times even from the crew and fellow officers. Payback.

" _Reports we have received back from our scout drones indicate the Confederacy Fleet guarding Byzral is of minimal strength size, so our own will have little no difficulty sweeping them aside. They have also shown a high concentration of war droid units gathering here and here_ " The Lord General pointed to yellow marked spots of the planet " _Scans and images show the population of these areas to be more dense than anywhere else of the planet_ "

"Their capital city?" Fisher mused the question aloud beside him.

" _That is our conclusion_ " The high ranking Chimeran officer nodded in agreement.

"What of the other marker?" Colonel Hall on the other side of the projector pointed to the other yellow dot on the opposite side of the planet.

The planetary image was then replaced quickly by a set of images showing heavily industrialised buildings surrounded by huge metallic walls, covering the entire landscape of the factory like structures. Eiji had to give their allies credit. This was just one small fraction on how advance the Chimera were compared to themselves, abling to bypass enemy defences underdetected from such long a range whilst having your strong points and positions analysed literally right before your eyes. It was impressive but he also found worrying, since such devices could be used against the UEC and they wouldn't even know about it.

" _From the evidence before us, it appears to be a manufacturing district. A large one too. Soldiers of the 8th and 431st Regiments under the command of Commander Hikar'an will assault these facilities at the same time your 32nd, 89th and 115th will attack the city, lead by Colonel Hall_ " Yuku'las laid at the ground assault plans.

"Hold on a minute sir, what of my Marines?" A new voice entered the into the briefing. Casting a glance over to the owner, Eiji saw it to be Major Cassandra 'Cass' Robson standing beside Hall. Since the death of Demir and being she was his second in command, Robson was promoted and given command of the 20th Marines on a temporary basis. She stood frowning doned in the standard issue Mark 4 Battle Suit in the blue and grey colours of the Commonwealth Marine Corps, compared to the green and black colours painted on the Army's own armour.

" _You will be joining the assault on the Manufacturing District"_ The Chimeran General explained " _Usually we would commence orbital bombardment on a heavily fortified position but it is a civilian facility and we are not here to ruin a civilisation's means of prosperity, unless need be_ "

" _Upon exiting from FTL, all ships are to power their main guns right away_ " Admiral Keller now took over the briefing, explaining the Navy's role in the battle " _The quicker we knock out their Naval support, the less likely chance they can send out a distress signal for backup_ _to arrive_ "

" _At least_ _their backup will probably arrive on time_ " A muttered voice from the Captain of the _Canberra_ could be heard from the other side of the room _._ The remark was ignored as the Admiral continued.

" _Now we know of the class of ships these Separatists use, all fighters and bombers will now know which targets to pick off and will be at the ready to deploy as soon as we enter real space_ "

" _All data will be sent to each ship commander and Army leader on further details of the invasion. Good luck and may the Gods be with you all_ " Eiji watched all the Chimeran present bow to the Lord General who return the favour, his holo image then disappearing from the connection.

" _All except Captains Fisher, Park, Riva and Commander Olsson are dismissed_ " The holograms of human and Chimeran officers all flashed one by one from the now closed meeting, leaving only himself and the people singled out by Keller's list remaining.

"What's the problem now, Admiral?" Fisher folded his arms over his chest, the other officers too waiting curiously for Keller's reasoning for keeping them back.

" _Look, I know there is still...tension over what happened at New Babylon. But right now this has to stop. There will be a time to mend broken relations but right now there is a war to fight. Second Fleet will be ineffective without the full support of its crew and officers_ "

"The men and women under our command just want assurances they will not be abandoned, again" Eiji heard his Captain put emphasis on the last word, a sentiment he shared and by the hundreds across the ships currently represented in the room. Since the aftermath of New Babylon there was animosity between the surviving crews of the _Amazon, Prague, Canberra_ and _Shadow Fist_ , and of those crewmembers of ships no longer in existence and the rest of Second Fleet.

Even now those two _Geneva_ -destroyers and the single surviving _Scimitar-_ class frigate stayed closer to their cruiser, showing a sense of 'us against them' in the eyes of Command. He was there in the heated exchange between Fisher and Keller before High Captain Tuchar'an's arrival, sharing the same level of anger as the Captain but refrained from giving his own verbal response over a dubious reason that made little sense to him.

It did raise suspicion over why Command ordered the rest of Second Fleet to halt from supporting them, despite Keller's supposed claims she protested over such unreasonable orders. As of yet, and to no real surprise, the reasoning wasn't explained behind such a vague and costly command that resulted in the deaths of thousands of troops and sailors, not to mention five ships and almost losing control of a colony.

" _And they won't be, I assure you Captain. We are now at war gentlemen, a time where unity is one of the greatest strengths when battling against those who want our lands and people under their control_ "

"I understand Admiral, we are ready to take fight back to these Confederate assholes. However to be blunt, I'm afraid trust is something you're going to have to earn back from not just my crew, but the others too"

" _I guarantee this battle will be the first steps in gaining that trust again, Christopher. I won't hold you any longer. Let us now return back to the task at hand and get a little payback for their unlawful attack against the Commonwealth and her people_ " Once her words rang in their ears her hologram faded, leaving the surviving ship commanders of the Battle of New Babylon to exchange thoughtful glances over her declaration.

"Well you heard the Admiral. Let's get back to work" One by one the holograms of each ship commander flicked then disappeared back into the projector, leaving him and Fisher alone as they turned to leave the room. The automatic doors slide open as they left the Meeting Room, walking into a flurry of activity as the _Amazon_ 's crew went about their duties preparing the cruiser for the upcoming battle.

Eiji saw many familiar faces down the corridors as he and Fisher made their way back to the Bridge, as well as a couple of new ones who came from the surviving crew members of the ships who perished defending New Babylon. It caused a stir when the 329 survivors all requested to be transferred to either the _Amazon_ or the other ships who fought against the Separatists. Right now though Eiji knew Admiral was correct they had to put their differences aside for now and concentrate on the bigger threat.

Reaching the end of the corridor he pressed on the lift button, waiting alongside the Captain as he thought over the briefing.

"Do you think crew will be able to put the grievances aside for the time being, Captain-san?" He asked Fisher,

"They're gonna have to Eiji. As much as I dislike having to admit it but Keller is right, if we don't work together a lot of people's lives will be put in unnecessary jeopardy" His superior stated, sharing the same professional opinion "Besides" Fisher continued, stopping for a second as the lift doors open and they both stepped in "There shouldn't be this sort of animosity within any Fleet, especially as we are about to participate in the biggest conflict in our history"

"You are correct sir. It's just still fresh in the mind"

"I know Eiji. However, it needs to be put aside and all focus on the Separatists" The lift soon stopped and opened up to the active Bridge, leaving Eiji to take the Captain's words in with serious thought. Everybody was at their stations, working on the _Amazon_ 's various systems keeping her up to scratch and battle ready. The outside view was filled of the swirling blue and purple background of FTL or 'Portal' space as the Chimera called it, rushing by them at high speeds.

There were several ships of the combined Commonwealth-Imperial fleet also in view, a couple of _Dauntless_ -class corvette, an _Illustrious_ -class destroyer and the _Geneva_ -class destroyer, _Santiago_. In front of them was the flagship of Second Fleet, the _Leviathan_ -class dreadnought, _Hawthorne_ leading the advance. The rest of the fleet composing of 45 ships in total were projected in the middle of the Bridge's holo-map, their names and class of vessel tagged above their holoforms. For Eiji it was an astonishing sight he'd never dreamt of seeing.

"Silva, are all ships linked to our communications network?" Fisher inquired the Lieutenant as they approached the data filled map.

"Yes sir, the _Devil's Punch_ and the _Kurica's Enlightenment_ are the only ones left sending their data over to us" Silva reported looking up from his typing into one of the map's external control consoles.

"Good" Fisher nodded then turned to the ensigns at weapons control "Have all Mass Drivers ready and the Particle cannon charged once we exited out of FTL"

"Yes sir" They both answered, starting the preparations of the cruiser's armament.

"Nav, how long until we reach Byzral?" The Captain asked the navigation officer next still having some difficulty pronouncing the alien world's name.

"One hour sir" She replied back keeping her eyes on the screen at her station. Eiji scanned his eyes over the map, checking over the assembled fleet that was considered an experiment of cooperation between the UECAF and the Imperial Military, to see whether or not human and Chimeran forces could work together successfully.

Checking over the fleet he spotted the hologram of the _Amazon_ standing out from the rest as it was highlighted green, positioned at the front next to three Imperial Navy vessels and four fellow CSF warships. They alone could of perhaps took on the enemy fleet guarding this alien world but Command wanted to add a shock and awe factor, or as many within the Commonwealth Space Fleet would call it overkill.

There was no deny the nerves everybody was feeling at venturing out into the unknown beyond the UEC's borders. For Eiji it was oddly exhilarating but anxious at the same time, seeing as there was no information as to what they would come across other than what they had battled already.

The posters and flyers before joining up the CSF spoke of experiencing adventure and exploring new worlds, but he wondered in amusement if the people employed by the UECAF behind them had fighting in a wider intergalactic war in mind.

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 **Armoury and Training Area, CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, FTL Space, En Route to Separatist Alliance controlled System of Byzral**

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"Wooo!"

"Go Nat, show these leathernecks how a real sniper gets it done!" Dan and Michelle cheered beside Ben. They were amongst a small crowd of Army, Marine and Naval personnel watching a little contest between Natalie and a marine sniper called Jensen after an argument broke out over who were the better shots

Ben put it down to nerves over the tension of the coming battle to this new war no one had ever dreamt of ever taking part in. The target range was the place the rival branches decided settle this competition, being it was the only place they could and the neutral Navy sailors were able to decide who the winners are without either side cheating. He hadn't a clue how long they had been watching the two competitors shoot down the fast moving different shaped targets of the range but it helped stow away the anxiety everybody had been feeling since leaving Valhalla.

It was easier for him and those of the 115th since they had got a taste of their new enemy back on the Outer colony of New Babylon but this time they were taking the fight to their own turf, with the Chimera in a part of the galaxy neither had ever travelled so far out to. To Ben he found it strangely comforting knowing the uglies were heading right into the unknown parts of space alongside them.

"Man, she's really putting Jensen through his paces" He heard a marine two feet away from them complimented their friend over the cheering, taunting and the loud shots from the unsuppressed rifles of their choice. Both Nat's and Jensen's faces were locked in deep concentrating keeping their sole focus on the targets popping up from different angles and speeds.

"Come on Jensen, don't lose to a damn hybrid girl!" Another marine shouted on the other side of the crowd. Ben's snapped his head in the direction the marine was standing, seeing in the corner of his eye Michelle and Dan do the same frowning at the offender.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean buddy?" Michelle challenged the marine, not showing any attempt to hide how they all felt at the remark. The marine in question turned and faced them with a few others around him.

"Just saying you wouldn't wanna lose to a ghost child. She'll probably want to use his blood to mark her victory" He sneered getting a few chuckles from his friends around him.

"I suggest you keep your trap shut mate, that's our friend talking about there" Ben warned the lippy leatherneck, the crowd around them soon turning quite over the confrontation.

"Is that a threat, Army puke?"

"Did it take all your brain cells to work that out?" Victor's accented voice entered into the heated exchange as the tension began to rise between the two groups.

"Probably just the thick shit one still left in that dumbass head of his" Dan was the next to mock the bigoted marine, who at this time Ben could see anger flash across his face.

"Well come on then assholes, let's see if you can back those words up"

"Enough!" A new voice entered into the argument, stopping any fight they may have resulted without the intervention "Anders you stow that attitude right now or you will have me to deal with, understood?"

The crowd broke a little giving Ben and the others a view to see Sergeant Hibbert glaring over at the marine named Anders.

"Whatever, let's go guys" Anders scoffed, walking out from the armoury with a trio of fellow marines.

"Asshole" Michelle growled with a hard glare. Everybody's attention was soon brought back to the sniping contest with a few conversations over the spat but it soon wavered back into cheering from the spectators.

"Time's up!" A Naval Engineer called tapping on his UNICOM, stopping the timer he set after being nominated as the referee. Both Nat and Jensen sat up from their prone positions still holding on to their rifles, facing the engineer waiting for the final results of who was the better marksman.

Ben and the rest of the squad went over to Nat as the engineer counted the scores on a console built into the side of the shooting range. He saw one of the man's eyebrows raise then he release a whistle, clearly surprised by the resulted everyone in the room was waiting for.

"Well, well, well. This one heck of a close one" He announced "Marine Jensen you knocked down eighty-three targets"

"Ooah!" A couple of marines cheered and one slapped Jensen on the back.

"Private Stanovich you managed to hit" The engineer said falling silence for a second, then looked their way with a small grin "eighty-four"

"Wait a go Nat!" Michelle congratulated amongst the cheers of the 115th and disappointed faces of the 20th Marines.

"Well done Nat" Ben patted her shoulder "You sure made the leathernecks eat their own words"

"Thanks Corporal" She smiled up at him, placing the butt of her L5 Sharpshooter on the floor to her left side "What was all that commotion behind us about?"

"Just a shithead who's going need to watch himself in future, if he spouts that kind of crap again" Dan said folding his arms over the veiled threat staring out toward the entrance of the armoury.

"Hey" Marine Jensen walked over holding his modified Marksman MK5 sniper rifle by it's stock, gaining Ben's and his whole squads scrutinising attention "Good shooting back there. It's been awhile since somebody offered real competition" He offered an outstretched hand to her.

"Indeed. I haven't had a worthy challenger since leaving Haven for boot camp" Nat stood forward and shook the marine's hand.

"Haven huh?. Well that explains your killer precision. Should've joined the Marine Corps, we always welcome expert marksmen and women in our ranks"

"Not all your _comrades_ would agree with you" Victor pointed out to Jensen.

"Don't worry about Anders, he's just a troublemaking little prick" Hibbert came over, joining into their conversation "It surprises me how he hasn't been kicked out of the Corps yet, but with this war going now our superiors want us to put up with it for now"

It was obvious Hibbert hated it just as much as they did but Ben grudgingly accept putting aside the hostilities between them and Anders. The enemy he, his squad and the rest of the UEC were soon to face was waiting on the other end of their FTL window.

All activity in the armoury temporarily halted and the noise level took a sudden drop as the crackle of an incoming message came through the ship wide intercom system.

" **ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL. WE'LL BE EXITING FTL TO THE BYZRAL SYSTEM IN APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR** "

"Well, best go grab our gear down in the hangar bay" Ben told the others as the audience began to scatter and head out of the shooting range's exit, muttering amongst each other over the ever closer Separatist system.

"Me too. See you guys around"

"Good luck out there buddy" With that Jensen departed from their company, joining into the crowd of marines leaving the range.

"Word is we aren't joining you on the attack of the capital city" Hibbert spoke up as the range was emptied out leaving just Ben, his squad and the marine Sergeant.

"What's Command got planned for you instead?" Ben asked him out of curiosity.

"We're going with the uglies to some heavily fortified factory district on the other side of the planet"

"Sounds like fun" Dan said folding his arms over his chest.

"Why are the Chimera bringing you with them?" Michelle quizzed next frowning lightly, getting a shrug from Hibbert in response.

"Who knows. Probably to see if humans are effective under Chimeran leadership maybe" He suggested over a list of possibilities for the Imperials choices "Here's hoping they don't use us as cannon fodder. Anyways let's get a move on, the war isn't going to be won with us just standing around like lost Cloven"

"Hmmm"

"I was joking, Private Stanovich" Ben turned his gaze to Natalie who narrowed her blood red coloured eyes at the marine NCO jesting comment. However even he had to admit seeing her Cloven eyes bore into you like that could make anyone uneasy "Right uh, I'll see guys down in the hangar"

"See ya Sarge" With Hibbert's departure it left only them in now quiet shooting range.

"Don't know about you guys but it sounds like we've been given the easy job"

"Come on Hai, all those _idiotski_ simulation training sessions and New Babylon should've made us experts at urban warfare by now" Victor propped up as they all finally began to leave.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Vic has a point" Michelle said, rolling her eyes at the Serbian who was grinning at her "Most of our training has been in city or town landscapes. It's what we specialise in"

"Having an alien world's capital as our first battle honour of the war wouldn't be too bad either" Natalie backed the others point of view as Ben took the lead them down the corridors.

"Still" The Tau Ceti Lance Corporal complained.

"Don't worry Dan, they'll be no shortage of machines for you to mow down. According to the news the Chimera's information suggests the Separatists have millions of robots in their military" Ben told his friend as they reached the lift to take them down from the Armoury and Training Level.

"Never knew you to be gung ho, Dan" Michelle commented whilst they all climbed into the newly arrived lift.

"I'm not. I just want get those brainless fucks back for what they did to us back on New Babylon"

"We all do mate. At least this time we're fully equipped to deal with them" The short trip in the lift soon ended, opening up to the busy and near packed hangar of the _Amazon_.

Personnel from all branches of the UECAF were occupied with one thing or another relating to the upcoming battle. Pilots were talking with technicians and engineers going over the Wasp or Reaper starfighters while others were loading ordinance into the Eagle heavy bombers. Ben caught glimpse of the common circular black and yellow sign of nuclear material on one bomb being put into one of the bombers compartments. Marines and a few other one-one-fivers stood by the assortment of vehicles talking to the crews of the Buzzards dropships, Widowmakers and Prowlers but the largest grouping was by the massive heavily armoured and armed beast towering over everything else in the hangar.

"Think they'll deploy the Talos this time" Natalie said as they gazed up at the juggernaut of a walker.

"We have plenty of them now. Could of done with a couple back on New Babylon" Michelle commented as they passed the front thick armoured plated right leg of the heavy walker.

"Well if they do just remember not to get caught under their feet. I doubt anything will remain of you if you get squashed by it" He warned them all from the common hazard repeated to friendly forces of the huge mechanical monsters.

"Sure will scare the shit out of them, don't you think?"

"I don't think machines shit, Hai"

"Shut up Modric" Ben rolled his eyes at the bickering pair. Further down he recognised most of their regiment hovering around the newly constructed secondary armoury on the other side of the cruiser's hangar, going about the same reason they all headed over.

Joining the queue they all except for Natalie waited for their turn to collect their weapons. The armoury officer behind the newly made wide kiosk read off his panel as the soldiers presented their UNICOMs for scanning then were presented with their gear by an assistant drone. The queue soon shortened down for Ben's grab his weapons as he brought his forearm up for identification, watching the blue 3D holo light of the scanner read his wrist computer.

"Corporal Ben Howard, Second Battalion, 115th Assault Regiment. Two P17s and a Razor coming up" The officer said in almost bored tone. Within a few seconds the drone brought over the rifle and two pistols, including several magazines for each gun and a handful of fragmentation grenades.

"Cheers sir" He thanked the officer who only nodded in return as he began reading Michelle's details. Sliding his guns and ammo to one side Ben placed the Razor and P17 ammo clips into the various pockets in his Battle Suit then placed both the P17 Strikers into his holsters, finally moving away from the kiosk grabbing his BM08 Razor by its stock. He went over to a pile of crates near one of the many Buzzards waiting for deployment, taking a seat on one of the metal rectangular boxes as they others followed suit.

Dan carried his XR-015 Hailstorm over and set it on a box next to him, placing one of the mini gun's boxy ammo mags into it's side feed while Michelle went about attaching a trio Hedgehog grenades onto her waist, slinging a M2A5 over her shoulder. Behind them came Victor slapping his Auger MK10 on to his back with some assistance from Natalie who gave her L5 Sharpshooter to the Serb, correcting the way the heavy energy rifle was magnetising to his armour.

"Suppose all we can do now is wait for the fun to begin" Michelle sighed jumping up on the double stacked crate behind him

"Pretty much" Ben shrugged resting his rifle between his knees, taking up what little rest they had left before the cloudy landscape of FTL was replaced by real space and their new battlefield.

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 **Battle Training Level, HMW** _ **Redemption's Fire**_ **, Portal Space, En Route to Separatist Alliance controlled System of Byzral**

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The practice Arena was mostly quiet other than a few mutters and the clashing of a practice mace and a three edged sword from the blue circled holo mat. Vicus stood by observing two of his warriors compete in a friendly duel, an exercise to help ease off the tension and allowed his troops to participate in. There were over dozen more troops of the 8th Regiment watching too as Pack Master Kilr'us duelled with a young female Squad Leader called Keia Dant'us.

The Commander was so far impressed with the Squad Leader. She performed great agility and flexibility against the more experienced and brute strength of Kilr'us. At first he was sceptic when she answered the Pack Master's open challenge but she had shown great tenacity and skill that earned much respect from her fellow warriors spectating the spar. Not only that her surname continued to plague in Vicus' mind as he was sure he had heard the name Dant'us somewhere before.

He heard the door open up behind him as he kept his eyes on the spar, watching the Squad Leader block an overhead strike from Kilr'us locking her sword against the blunt mace.

"Do you think it is wise for your troops to duel before a battle, Vicus?" Iros questioned as he came and stood alongside him.

"It's only a friendly match to ease the tension" He explained to the High Captain just as Dant'us duck from a side swing, the strike missing her by mere inches.

"Who is winning?"

"Kilr'us, but Squad Leader Dant'us isn't backing down so easily" Vicus said with a small level of admiration for the young warrioress.

"Dant'us you say. Where have I heard that name before" His friend pondered the same question. Vicus refocused back to the fight seeing Dant'us block another heavy strike then return on the offensive, targeting Kilr'us' exposed side managing to clip his left hip. The Pack Master let out a small grunt from the attack but soon parried it away and sent a sweep blow to her legs, sending her down to the holo lit mat.

She quickly rolled out of the way of the downward blow heading her way and shot up to her feet, holding her sword with both hands holding the practice weapon above her head in a fighting stance.

" **ALERT, EXIT FROM PORTAL SPACE IN ONE HOUR** " The announcement brought the fight to halt.

"I think we shall end it here for now" Vicus approached the combatants "The battle draws near and you'll need all your strength to bring down the Separatists constructs"

"We can still do that with half our energy, Commander" One warrior boasted from the gathered audience.

"Maybe so, but there are a great many of these war droids and our liberation of this world has us attacking a large fortified position. I doubt you'd be able to assault the fortress and battle the machines inside with only half energy" He turned to the hot headed soldier who bowed his head solemnly having his overconfidence deflated, then back to the others "The might of the Empire will be brought down on these cowardly scum like an Ekus on a tree rodent"

"Is it true the primates will be joining us on the assault, sir?" Another raised a question.

Vicus knew this was going to cause disgruntlement but whether his troops like it or not both the Empire and the UEC were in this fight together "Yes. Naval soldiers of the 20th Marines will be accompanying us on the factory district" As expected he heard a few snorts and mutterings of displeasure but it wasn't their place to question High Commands orders, especially over trivial and petty dislikeness to the humans

"Perhaps you forget General Alana Kurica was human" Kilr'us spoke up, silencing all talk "Is it not thanks to her the 8th Regiment has been distinguished and fabled the finest unit in the Imperial Army, and is her lightsaber not imprinted on our banner!. Maybe the Commonwealth humans may not live up to her expectations but do not insult a species that our legendary leader was birthed from"

Vicus felt a little taken aback by the Pack Master's lecture which stunned all around the arena. He could sense the guilt from a few warriors as they were put in their place. A small grin formed on Vicus' face as he looked at all the face of the soldiers, all of whom appeared apologetic but not willing to be open about it.

"Thank you Pack Master. Now get everything you need for the fight ahead, for it will not be an easy one. Dismissed" He ordered to them.

"Sir!" All snapped to attention slamming their fists into their chest and bowing.

"Squad Leader Dant'us. May I have a word?"

"Yes Commander?" She stopped and turned back around, joining him, Tuchar'an and Kilr'us back on the arena mat.

"You performed with great skill and technique. If I don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

"Seventy three cycles, sir"

"That is young for somebody of your age to possess incredible skill with a sword, Squad leader" Tuchar'an complimented the warrioress.

"I had a good master, High Captain" She said with her face, if Vicus wasn't mistaken, starting to blush.

"Who trained you?" Kilr'us gruff toned voice asked her next to all their curiosity.

"Ulia Dant'us. My mother" Realisation finally hit him as the name finally struck his mind as to where he had heard it before.

"Ah, now that explains it. I remember your mother, the best warrioress I've had the honour to fight alongside"

"Thank you Commander. I'm sure you words will mean a lot to her" She smiled and bowed her head to him.

"A shame she is no longer of the military. Is there no way we are able to convince to rejoin the regiment?" Kil'rus questioned her next.

"No, sorry sir. She didn't want me to join the Army but what is the point being trained for combat if you cannot put it to good use?" Already Vicus was taking a liking to the young Dant'us.

"Your welfare was all she cared and fought for Squad Leader. I hope you do not judge her harshly" He told her, fully understanding Ulia's choice as a parent himself.

"No Commander, I do not. Just wish she would stop persisting me in choosing a different profession" Giving a heartfelt chuckle Vicus placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It is a role of mother to worry for her child. Deep down she is proud of you" He gave her a grin "Having a Dant'us in our ranks only reinforces my belief the warrior spirit in our regiment will never falter"

"Thank you, Commander Hikar'an"

"Now, the battle draws near. I suggest you armour up and prepare for the tough fight ahead"

"Sir" Keia saluted him then spun round, departing from their company.

"That is one to look for in the future, Commander"

"Indeed Kilr'us" Vicus concurred with the Pack Master.

"Did you not tell me Ulia Dant'us had a small problem with authority?" Iros spoke up for the first time through the exchange.

"On occasion" He admitted as they all walked out the of the arena "I let it pass because she cared for those under her command. I respected her for it but reined her in when she went too far"

"She had given me many headaches over her antics" The Pack Master sighed "But she fought like a crazed spirit that was inspiration to many"

"I must return to the Bridge" Iros said as they all came to a stop at a corridor "Admiral Keller has ordered all ships to power their main guns as soon as we exit Portal Space"

"An interesting move. It'll knock out their fleet before they could register our presence"

"Yes, but it would not always work. We have the element of surprise on on our side for this battle but as soon as the Separatist are aware of our invasion, it'll not work again as they will be more alert for such actions" The High Captain elaborated "Besides Naval engagements will grow tiresome due to a lack of any meaningful glorification"

"Was there to begin with?" Vicus jested to his friend.

"Without us how are you able to liberate systems and rid troublesome obstacles on the surface and in the cosmos" Iros threw back with a grin, earning a scoff from Kilr'us.

"A debate for another day. We must return to our duties, I need to brief my troops and send copies of our battle plans to a Major Cassandra Robson who now leads the Commonwealthers Naval soldiers"

"An interesting engagement awaits for all of us. May the Gods grant you luck out there Commander" The High Captain saluted him.

"You too, Tuchar'an" Vicus and the Pack Master returned the salute, bowing as he split off and headed down the corridor opposite to their own destination.

Vicus followed the path leading to the weapons chamber with Kilr'us in tow, his mind now on the soon to be counter invasion of the Separatist Alliance. He was ready, his warriors were ready, to bring the wrath of the Chimeran Empire's military down on these beings who used machines to do their dirty work.


	14. Battle of Byzral- UEC

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 **Command Bridge, CSFV** _ **Amazon**_ **, FTL Space, Separatist Alliance controlled System of Byzral**

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"Exiting FTL in three, two, one" Navigation counted down as Eiji waited alongside the Captain standing beside the holomap. The blue and purple swirl of FTL space disappeared and was replaced by an electrical crack back to real time. The forever blackness and star dotted expanse of the cosmos returned but it was the blue and dark green planet in front of their view port. The holo map then brought up new images of enemy ships guarding the blue and white tinted world of Byzral spread out over the planet's equator in a loose formation, clearly not expecting an attack within this star system.

"Weapons status?" Fisher turned to Weapons Control.

"Particle cannons one and two ready to fire, sir"

"Target the light destroyer on the starboard side of the lead cruiser" Eiji eyed the unfortunate enemy vessels soon to blown to kingdom highlighted on the holomap. From the intel given to them from their Imperial allies the ship Captain Fisher had chosen to face their wrath was a _Recusant_ \- class light destroyer, the only one of its type in the opposing fleet. The rest consisted of a single ' _Providence_ ' destroyer, one _Lucrehulk_ class carrier and eight ' _Munificent_ ' class star frigates.

"Target locked"

"Fire" Fisher ordered calmly as he like Eiji and a few of other the crew members on the Bridge, watched the powering up of their primary weapons, a scene he knew was repeated across all allied ships. The first to fire was the _Hawthorne,_ blasting out three thin yellow beams of energy toward the lead ship, shortening the distance in mere seconds and piercing straight through the Separatists warship's forward shields.

The particle beams punctured through the energy shields and hit the armoured hide of the destroyer, burning and cutting the forward section of the opposing vessel like a hot knife through butter. Eiji managed to catch in time the _Providence_ destroyer forward bow the _Hawthorne_ struck turn into an explosive mess staring out to the battle behind the viewing windows, when the mixture of yellow and blue energy beams of both sets of allied ships extend out toward their designated targets.

The frigate support was, for no better word the CSF Naval officer could describe, obliterated from the first volley of fire. Eiji made a quick study of the results from both sets of energy weapons, finding the interesting comparisons from CSF and Imperial ships. Their own Particle Beam Cannons breached the shields of the Separatists after a couple hits from multiple strikes, slicing and blowing chunks of their armour leaving the interior of some frigates exposed to the vacuum of space. Whoever was ill fated enough to be in those parts of the ship would've met a grizzly end.

The Chimera's more powerful Plasma cannons blew the ships they attacked outright, turning them into fiery display of explosions and debris fields. The energy shielding protecting the enemy warships did little in preventing their destruction from the raw power generated in the main guns of their Chimeran allies. It further proved to the Lieutenant commander despite the Commonwealth's ever advancing in all fields of technology, they still had a ways to go to match the Empire's level of advancement.

Of the 20 ships guarding Byzral thirteen were now lifeless wrecks, three more were on their way in joining the other destroyed vessels and the remaining other four had sustained heavy damage. Eiji made out amidst the destruction the _Amazon_ 's targeted prey broken in half from combined firepower from her main guns and that of a Imperial corvette, floating helplessly amongst the demolished Separatist ships.

"Got fighters incoming"

"Give our pilots the go ahead. Bring the ship forward and above orbit over the capital. Tell the Talos crew to be ready for deployment"

"Yes sir" One of the Ensigns acknowledge the Captain's orders, relaying Fisher's commands into the his headset. The ship took a sudden hit from one of the still serviceable Separatist light destroyer as the fleet advanced closer to Byzral, attempting to put up a last ditch fight despite the drastically drop in Naval support on their side. In kind the _Amazon_ 's mass drivers unleashed a barrage of electromagnetic slugs into the offending warship, tearing into their exposed armour plating stripping away their last defensive capabilities.

Eiji took his eyes of the holomap again and stared out into the combat outside the confines of their _Marauder_ \- class cruiser. Red and white plasma with the yellow MD rounds were exchanged between each other, the finally acts of defiance from the Separatist Navy in a futile attempt to prevent their invasion. The remains of the light destroyer who fired upon their ship blasted it's last barrages at the _Amazon_ before becoming another lifeless hulk from the joint firepower from their own guns and the _Ankara_.

The starfighter carrier was the last to go despite putting up a better fight than the others. The shower of red from their 'turbolasers' was blasting at the nearest vessels which happened to the _Hawthorne_ and the _Redemption's Fire_. Both lead ships combined their mighty firepower and turned the valiant carrier into an exploding ball, leaving them to split their forces preparing for the land invasion.

Even with the enemy fleet no longer a threat their fighters were still operational. Eiji caught glimpses of Reaper _,_ Wasp _and_ Chimeran Revenant starfighters engaging the robotic drones left over, having little choice but to fight now their parent ships were gone. As they moved closer the planet of Byzral he resumed his musing back to holomap, observing the allied fleet split with the Imperials heading to their area of the alien world they were soon to set foot on. The first of many in their counter invasion.

"Sir, we're now in stationary orbit above the capital city" Navigation reported from her terminal screen.

"Give the go ahead for the troops to deploy. Have _Griffin_ wing escort the dropships to the surface, Silva"

"Yes Captain" The Lieutenant obeyed. Keeping his eyes on the holomap Eiji scrunched his face at the leftover carnage over the brief battle with the Separatists Naval forces, feeling a little dissatisfied with the result.

"Something wrong, Lieutenant commander?" Fisher asked him looking over from the other side of the projection table.

"No Captain-san. It's just this battle felt one sided" He admitted to his superior.

"I know Eiji. We had the element of surprise on our side this time and took full advantage of it. Next time I don't think we'll be so lucky"

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 **Buzzard** **G/T dropship, CSFV Amazon Hangar Bay, En Route to To Separatist Alliance controlled Byzral**

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Ben couldn't deny he still felt nervous when boarding the Buzzard, one of many awaiting to take off and leave for the planet of Byzral. The green and black of army troops and blue and grey of marines stepped aboard the wing of dropships preparing for the invasion of the Separatist Alliance controlled world. He was glad the mask was covering his face, hiding away his uneasy feelings to the rest his squad and the other soldiers of the 115th on the transport.

Including his own squad the Buzzard held 15, all of which were fellow one one fivers as well as Captain Pires standing at the front near the cockpit having a small chat with the pilots. Stepping aboard he took a look around at the others waiting for their part to begin in this new war. Straight away he checked over his squad, finding them all ready and fully armed for the battle ahead. His mask's HUD read out each soldier's tag but Ben didn't need it's assistant to pick out his comrades and friends.

Dan and Natalie stood on the right hand side of the passenger bay with Michelle and Victor on the other, holding on to the handle bar above their heads with one hand and using the other to grip to their weapons on choice. Behind them the names of other soldiers of the 115th highlighted up, notably picking up Muller's ID and those new to his own squad.

"All set Corp?" Michelle's amplified voice echoed in his ears.

"That I am. You guys ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be" Dan answered resting the the other end of his Hailstorm on the floor.

"Mind the doors!" One of the pilots called out. Straight after the warning the mechanical clunking of the side doors sliding into place, closing them all into the dropship's now full compartment.

"Alright ladies and gents this is it. What is happening on Byzral today is happening on nine other planets" Pires announced just as the dropship began to lift of the Hangar Bay's floor "Only difference is we'll be having the honour of returning the favour for the loss of our friends these bastards inflicted on us back on New Babylon. It's time to show what happens to those who cross the one one fivers and the UEC!"

A chorus of cheers sound all around Ben from the Captain's words. As Pires turned back to face the cockpit the Corporal stared ahead toward the only windows the Buzzard possessed, watching as they left the protection of the _Amazon_ and out to the exposure of space. The planet picked for their joint task force first taste of action dominated the view with other dropships and pieces of what used to be the enemy fleet dotting over the place. Reaper strike fighters flew by their dropship heading out in front of their slower counterparts which the Corporal assumed was their escort to the capital.

There was chatter in the cockpit between the pilots talking with other Buzzards pilots and command back aboard the _Amazon._ It wasn't long before the bright azure skies of Byzral engulfed the view as they entered the alien world's atmosphere. Even with the lack of conversations amongst the soldiers Ben could pick up the feelings of those aboard. There was nervousness, excitement and fear but like him they knew they had to push all distracting emotions aside and focus on the battle at hand.

"Wonder who'll be-"

"We've got incoming!" One of the pilots warned just as their dropship took a jolt, cutting off whatever Dan was going to say.

Ben gripped tightly onto the overhead handlebar, looking over his shoulder to see the Lance Corporal take an involuntary step back from the choppy approach they were now facing. A pair of Reapers screamed passed their transport, going out to meet whatever threat was coming their way. He couldn't make out much but a distant fiery flash gave away something was destroyed from their fighter support's attack.

"We're four clicks out from the target!" The other pilot announced glancing back quick to them all.

"Hey Stanovich. Remember to say hello to the hunchback for me if you find another bell tower"

"I'm sure he'll be a better conversationalist than you, Modric. Probably better looking too" Nat threw back at Vic, much to the humour and laughter to everyone else.

"Never know, could be a distant relative" Michelle joined in.

"Or a love child he hasn't told us about" Dan was the next to take the piss out of the Serb. Despite the situation awaiting them Ben could help a chuckle at the banter at Victor's expenses yet again.

"Alright that's enough" Pires shut his jestering squad up however Ben could tell he was smirking behind his mask at the jokes directed at Victor.

The lively environment inside their Buzzard was cut short by a violent rock of the dropship. Regaining his footing Ben stared up at the cockpit once again catching sight of tell tale signs of enemy flak. AA rounds went off all around them exploding into black clouds but for one unfortunate dropship in front. The enemy fire turned the friendly Buzzard into a wingless bird, bringing it down into a spiralling nosedive.

"Hang on back there. Things are going to be a little hairy here on out" Taking in the dropship pilot's advice Ben copied the others actions in bracing for a possible harsh landing.

Through the hail of enemy anti aircraft fire, smoke and the blaze from another Buzzard meeting a combustible end he made out the architectural constructs of buildings, large ones too.

"Landing point acquired" One of of the pilots said for all to hear.

"This is it soldiers!" Pires informed them as the dropship began to descend down to the city's outskirts.

Ben released a small breath as the Buzzard drew closer to the ground. The AA fire lessened but was replaced by ground fire from enemy forces,their small arms fire pinging off the dropship. The seconds ticked by as their troop transport hovered over the ground, the side doors opening up letting in the daylight beaming from the alien sun to enter into the darkly lit compartment. With it came the whine of laser fire and mortar shells going off all around them.

Jumping out the side door with Michelle, Victor and the other troops behind him Ben charged forward with the other soldiers, avoiding the zips of crimson laser bolts and mortar rounds hounding their advance.

"Let's go, move out!" Pires ordered their regiment forward.

In front was the capital but the first obstacle was a bunch of small fortifications manned by a mix of skinnies and thumpers robots, firing indiscriminately at their approach. Ben fired a burst from his Razor at the defenders, searching for cover for whatever was around considering there was a lack of such a thing. The rest of the 115th engaged the machines but with no cover it looked as if they were all soon going to be slaughtered in droves before breaching the defences they weren't briefed about.

Cries of pain rang out as those struck went down from the robotic soldiers energy fire, having the misfortune of being the first set of causalities.

"We need air support dammit!"

"Where have the fucking Buzzards gone?!" On cue a pair of dropships which doubled as gunships too flew over their heads, answering Michelle's anger fuelled question.

Scattered about the place were small boxy buildings with dome roofs being used as cover by the rest of their unit. The structures were quickly becoming crowded as the only source of protection from the incoming fire from the Separatists forces.

"This way, hurry!" Ben ordered his squad to the closest building.

One by one to his relief they ran behind the battle scarred building, with Ben being the last providing covering fire. On both sides of the walls someone was poking their heads over the edge of the wall, returning fire in an attempt to hit any of the robots blocking their entry to the city. Overhead the Buzzards unleashed missiles and peppered the machines with heavy chain gun fire, bring hell down on the Separatists forces in hopes of giving them an opening.

Ben watched as Dan popped from cover and activated his Hailstorm minigun shield, protecting himself as he fired the heavy gun's subsonic bolts at the defensive lines.

" _Hai get back into cover, let the flyboys finish the fuckers off_ " Henrik's voice bellowed over the com. Searching for the whereabouts the gruff Sergeant, Ben poked his head out finding Henrik a few yards further down by another small hut.

Reluctantly following Henrik's orders Dan moved back behind cover, deactivating the shield once again as the whistle of missiles and roar of explosions continued from the gunships assault on the robots fortifications. More heavy fire lashed out from behind their position in the shape of bullets, missiles and dark green energy bolts joining the pummelling of the Separatist defences. Ben mirrored the rest of those around him in finding Cheetahs speeding forward with each possessing a different armament to the other, backed up by recently dropped Prowlers.

A huge bang rang and pieces of metal and dirt showered over their heads, bouncing off his helmet and shoulder guards as a sign the fortification had finally been breached.

" _Get off your hides and give the bastards what for!_ " Henrik's voice bellowed through the comm.

"You heard the man, let's go!" Ben ordered his squad, going out amongst the war crying 115th.

The enemy defensive fire had drastically reduced giving them lead way to advance into the city proper. A section of the fortified wall and its surrounding barriers that at first halted their attack on the city were now rubble with its former occupants nothing more than pieces of scrap. As they crossed over the destroyed wall Ben saw some of their unit split off and turn to the remaining machines holding the wall. With the support of the Prowlers climbing over and joining the fray the Corporal knew it wouldn't be too long before they took the first set of Separatist fortifications.

Raising his BM08 Razor he fired off at a skinny before the robot could fire off a shot at anyone. There were more of the B1 type bots in front moronically marching out in the open to meet them. Red lasers were firing their way again only this time with more cover and intelligent thinking they made short work of the Separatist mechanical troops. Kneeling behind some type of hover car Ben pulled the trigger of his battle rifle and brought down another two robots that lacked common sense to dodge the incoming fire.

The bark of a M2A5 went off next to him, meaning he didn't need to check to know the assault rifle was Michelle's. Bringing down another skinny he searched for the rest of his squad, spotting to no surprise Dan blasting away with his shield protected Hailstorm at the machines. Next to him was Victor firing off shield barriers from his Auger for other soldiers to take cover behind then switch to the primary high energy rounds, blasting off two transient radiation bolts at the droids managing to take down half a dozen before phasing out.

The last of his team Ben couldn't find but knowing Natalie she would of found a good hiding or high spot to bear her L5 Sharpshooter down at the enemy. The skinnies numbers were beginning to whittled down, only to be replaced by more thumpers or 'B2s' as their model were correctly known as. They were backed up by a trio of larger, four legged spider robots. As the silver, bulky droids fired their inbuilt wrist guns, the bug eyed spider droids shot at the Cheetahs providing light armoured support with heavy crimson laser bolts.

Two struck one of the quad-scout vehicles front, smashing straight into the engine compartment and blowing the front end up killing the driver and the gunner of its twin machine gun turret. In revenge for killing the crew another Cheetah drove forward running over a skinny, unloading two HEV missiles from its Wildfire launcher into the Spiders turning the two into battlefield debris.

"Hedgehog!" Michelle called out, chucking one the barbed spiked grenades at the clustered thumpers.

The familiar sight of the lethal grenade hitting the floor then levitating up in the middle of the robots at head height made Ben and Michelle duck. Despite all the loud gunfire fire and explosions around he could still hear the dull pitch whistle of the barbed needles rushing at and impaling anything within it's radius. Popping his head back up he found the deadly impact of the Hedgehog's effects in the form of four thumpers down on the ground impaled by the long needles and one aimlessly wondering around with one stuck in its face.

"Bloody good throwing arm you got there, Colton" Ben complimented his friend's throwing skills.

"Thank Chicago High coaching staff" She replied going back to her rifle.

" _Come on, push up. Don't want those damn 89th pricks beating us to the enemy HQ!_ " Henrik's voice rang over comm once again.

His words appeared to be having an effect as Ben watched the rest of the 115th Assault Regiment advance. Jumping over the wheeless car Ben joined his visible team and lead them all ahead, shooting off the head of another skinny. Thanks to the combined firepower from Dan, another soldier with a Hailstorm and the Cheetahs the droid forces blocking the road to the inner parts of the city were now near machine free, except for a small group further down the left hand side.

If the place wasn't embroiled in a battle Ben would've taken in the strange, alien architecture of the buildings of this world but keeping his friends and squadmates alive were more of an important interest to him. Black smoke and evident signs of someone or something meeting an explosive end decorated the city from not only his regiment's entry to the capital but those of who used be part of the First Frontier Division.

Entering a three story building Ben found it to be a complete mess from the carnage. The shocker however was the civvies huddled under a nearby table, fear evident on their faces and screams of terror from a child. The shock was one of the civvies was an alien, a non human and wasn't Chimeran.

"Stay down!" He shouted offering a friendly hand gesture, shaking off his own shock.

The others quickly joined him, taking up position by the windows dragging over another unoccupied table as reinforced cover behind the windows of this diner layout style floor. Outside were more skinnies and thumpers but the robots were backed up tall, ball headed walkers. The walkers had four legs and three chin guns under, one each situated under their three sets of 'eyes'.

"Where's Dekker when you need him?" Dan said as they all concentrated on the infantry support.

"He's probably kicking ass on the other side of the city" Michelle replied firing a short burst at the small force of skinnies marching their way.

"It appears our Prowlers prefer to be the glory themselves" Victor pointed to their own walker support.

Seemingly out of nowhere a force of five Prowlers joined the fight, taking on the Separatists own octopus looking walkers in a duel. With their armour support's focus now off them it gave his squad and the others of their regiment to handle the infantry. Shooting a Bullseye tag into a thumper he ducked behind the table and fired the Razor's bullets, raising the rifle up over their cover.

"You got him Corp!" The Lance Corporal confirmed his kill.

Pleased he got the tougher made machine he raised back up from the table again, seeing the droids numbers dropping but the fight that got his attention was the one being fought between the walking AFVs. The octopus walkers had the size advantage and 360 degree weapon position but it was the heavier firepower and better protection of the Prowlers that was winning their battle. All five of the friendly walkers activated their shields deflecting and absorbing the laser bolts surrounding the slower moving walkers, peppering their taller foe with their chain guns and missile pods.

The battle became a one sided affair with each octo walker crashing to the ground into smouldering wrecks, leaving the Prowlers to now turn their attention to the droid infantry forces. One dropped their shields, only to met by a lucky missile slamming into the part that joined the main body into its legs. Smoke and fire soon engulfed that part of the scout walker, causing it to drop down to floor in heap. The crew compartment flung open and one of the crew jumped out pulling his fellow crew member out of the walker, not appearing to be moving.

Another missile followed hitting into another Prowler with it's shields still up, making the walker take a couple steps backwards from the force of the impact. Soon straight after the building across the street which contained more troops took a hit, blowing the insides and anyone unfortunate inside into pieces.

" _Jesus. Can anyone pinpoint where that fire is coming from?!_ " Pires frustratedly asked over the comm.

" _Got the location sir. There appears to be a bunch of robots carrying rocket launchers fifty metres from your location. On top of that strange spiral building_ " Natalie's voice came through, just as the same Prowler from before took another hit and stumbled back again.

Looking back at the Prowlers Ben found it safe to presume the Captain had relayed Natalie's information to the crews with them all now turning toward the building in question and concentrating fire on the rocket droids. All marched down the road still firing, ignoring the other robots shooting at them. Problem was now their shields were beginning to flutter from too much enemy fire, or were beginning to shut down and recharge. Either way Ben knew it left the walkers vulnerable to the rocker droids if they didn't take the machines out quickly.

"Let's see if we can give them hand" Ben told the others, jumping out from the glass free window.

Running across the war torn street he lead his squad to a nearby building opposite the spiral, dodging enemy laser fire and passing several troops laying down suppressing fire on the rocket droids position. Upon entering he heard another loud bang and the screeching metal signalling the demise of another Prowler.

"Nat, you still got eyes on the robots?"

" _Yes but I've had to change vantage point. After popping the head of one of the metal_ toshchiy _, one of the others spotted me and blasted a rocket my way_ " His distant squad member reported in.

"Funny, I didn't hear a bell toll" Victor commented, despite the war going on all around the place still teased the youngster.

"How many are left?" Ben ignored the joke.

" _Nine. There are two skinnies manning some kind of laser machine gun and the rest equipped with rocket launchers_ "

"Ok, try and pick off the machine gun crew, We'll deal with the rocket troops"

"Da _, Corporal_ " Natalie acknowledged from her end.

Running up the partially intact stairs of the complex they entered with other one one fivers occupying different levels, they made it to the top floor providing a good point of attack for his plan. Taking up position by one window he peered down below briefly seeing the Prowlers and others of their unit firing non stop at the rocket troops but the thick masonry the defenders took cover behind was holding out pretty well, preventing further advancement into the city.

"Targets at two o'clock"

"Dan, how are you gonna hit them without a tripod?" Michelle questioned the standing Lance Corporal by another window facing out to the rocket firing obstacle.

"Like this" He simply put by resting the front of the Hailstorm onto the window seal.

"Creative" Vic's sarcastic voice came from the other end of the room.

"It still got better better range than your Rossmore, Modric"

"Ha, you forget I carry this Hai" The Serb pulled out his Auger, placing his shotgun on the magnetic clamp on his back.

"Bet I'll still take more down than you" The Lance Corporal challenged him.

"Hey, we're still fighting a war here!" Michelle interrupted the two "You can compare dick sizes later"

"Alright, cool it!" Ben brought their focus back to the battle at hand "Dan, Vic, you take the ones the left. Michelle you and I take the ones on the right. Nat how you doing on the gun crew?"

" _Done, you shouldn't have any problems_ " She replied back. Looking back at the rocket troops continuing to block the 115th, the Corporal saw where the machine gun crew were and found the heavy gun's crew were no longer operating his squad's biggest threat.

Peering his eyes down the sights of his Razor, Ben got the long, elongated head of one of the skinnies blasting off another rocket at the Prowlers as his next target. Squeezing the smaller secondary trigger down he catch a quick glimpse of the green Bullseye tag go forth and latch on to the robot's neck, to the bewilderment of the one next to it who pointed a metallic finger at his brethren's neck from the new flashing light. Ben gave the machine a reason to be concerned when he changed triggers and sent two tracking bullets its way, sending them into the robot's marked area depriving it of a head.

The other one faced his way but went down joining its friend's fate of another three round burst from his increasing marksmanship. The combination of three types of ammunition brought a killing blow to the rocket droids, including one hiding behind one of the square pillars only for an Auger transient energy bolt to go straight through and take out the remaining threat from the spiral tower.

"Captain, this is Howard. All rockets troops are down, I repeat, all rocket troops are down"

" _Good work Howard. Alright everyone, let's get going. We're not far from the enemy's headquarters now. Don't let up!_ " Pires egged them all on.

"You heard the Captain" Ben said to the others, getting up from cover leading the way back out of the battle damaged building.

Rejoining the 115th they were once again on the move, combating the seemingly limitless machines defending this alien world. Up ahead he spotted a pair of Eagle heavy bombers fly over the northern section of the city, where he knew the 89th were pushing through in their race to reach the capital's centre first, only it would appear they were having trouble if the big birds had been called in. Amongst the black smoked filled skies Ben could see tiny specks of silver and grey then the occasional orange flash from a starfighter meeting their fate.

Ejecting the spent magazine and clipping a fresh the Corporal fired at the new wave of droids. The three Prowlers that remained stayed with their unit, cutting down the dumb machines marching with no care their battle tactics were inflicting heavy losses on their side. The slow, out in the open steps forward only made their metal hides easy targets for the Cheetahs and Prowlers. The advantage he was soon finding though was they had the numbers to replace each blown up. bullet ridden or crushed robot.

Making matters worse was the uncomforting sight of tanks coming down the enemy controlled road, trailing closely with the company sized unit of thumpers replacing the low number of skinnies. As predicted the Prowlers drew the tanks fire blasting at their only reliable source of counter armour. As tank went against walker Ben resumed back to the battle with the heavy droid infantry, hitting one in its thinned armoured stomach adding it to the growing number of scrapped bots littering the city streets.

Another turned to face him and extended an arm out rapidly firing its wrist laser toward him. The aim was sporadic with a few shots pinging off the half collapsed wall still clinging to a shattered remnants of a building Ben used as cover from the enemy horde, with one coming blinding close to his neck. In front one soldier took a couple shots to his torso from a thumper's wrist laser weapon, killing him outright and slumping his dead form to the ground in a heap.

"How many of these damn things are there!"

"Enough for your bullets. Now keep firing!" Henrik answered the panicked voiced soldier close by.

Ben was beginning to share the same feelings of concern over being overrun. No matter how many he, anyone in his squad or those of the 115th first and second battalions killed more and more machines just kept on coming. Through the gaps of the square formation robots brown balled shaped objects rolled up then stopped in front of the amassed robotic troops, unfurling into another unwelcoming entry into the battle.

"Rollers!" Somebody needless called out at the 'Droideka' droids.

"Everyone get to cover!" Another voice rang out just as each spring out robot activated their shields and blasted the same coloured laser bolts the other Seapartist robots had been shooting.

The Corporal watched several of his comrades who hadn't heeded the advice seconds before join the fast growing casualty list, having their lives snuffed out from the twinned laser cannons of the bubble shielded robots.

" _Everyone, fall back!_ " Pires ordered through the comm once again.

"What, we're pulling back?!" Michelle barked astounded by the order.

"It's not like we have much of a choice, Colton" Ben reluctantly supported the order, moving back providing covering for a few soldiers retreating over a piece of debris.

"Where's our armour support?"

"No longer with us" Victor dryly responded.

His words rang truth to the dismay of Ben as seeing the burning bodies of the Prowlers and some Cheetahs, with one on its back and former crew sprawled out dead having been killed either by the impact or attempting to escape the capsized vehicle only to be killed by the encroaching droids.

"What about the 32nd?. Surely they should have broken through by now, why doesn't the Captain call for their support?" Dan said in frustration. The Tau Ceti born heavy gunner's finger pressing down as the swarm of sub sonic rounds poured into their metal skinned foes.

"The 32nd are being held up by anti tank and AA guns" Henrik cut into their conversation swinging his rifle butt into a skinny, causing it tumble back and placed 8.2mm bullets into its boxy chest "We'll have to make do with what we have until a miracle springs up and deals with those tanks"

Humiliation was all Ben was beginning to feel, as well as fear of that of his squad's lives. It looked as if their first invasion into Separatist territory was going to take a turn for the worst. The comm was overloaded with people calling out to fall back, pointing out targets or having their last words cut off by an enemy laser bolt.

UECAF guns of different calibres, ammunition, grenades and even the weapons themselves gave an impressive barrage but the Corporal was watching the defenders now move on the offensive. One tank took a hit from a Wildfire MRL right into the turret, blowing the turret half off the tank and sending it sideways crashing into another tank. Despite this there wasn't enough of the missile launchers to stop the Separatist armour in their tracks.

Firing over his head was one of the remaining armed Cheetahs, shooting off long yellow beams of energy from it's Hellfire turret taking down swathes of the endless blasting thumpers. With this success it caught the attention of a Separatist tank much to the horror of the crew who in vain turned the Hellfire turret its way, doing little in the way of stopping it.

"Corp look out!" Dan's voice came too late as the heavy energy bolt fired and struck the Cheetah.

The resulting explosion sent flying as the erupting quad IFV met its end. Ben felt his body crash back down to earth and hit the concrete surface hard and roll half a dozen times. Blinking his eyes his vision became hazy and a high pitch whistling noise sang in his ears, he raised his head and found the right side of his visor smashed and leaving his eye exposed to the outside world. Muffled voices reached him but he hadn't a clue what they were saying.

Pain etched into his ribs as he tried standing up, only getting up one foot and the other leg still kneeling. Black and white smoke blew across his line of sight and figures of thumpers stomped by ignoring his predicament. That relief was snatched away by the converging of a sandy brown coloured hover tank. The long, thin barrel of the armoured beast pointed down as it continued floating in his direction.

Closing his eyes expecting the reaper to chose this moment in time to seal his destiny, the ear splitting screech of ripping metal and the ground shaking like a mini earthquake put in check a particularly nasty end. Snapping his eyes open Ben no longer saw the hover tank pointing its main gun down at his hurt form. In its place were pieces of the enemy armour sheared in half and a massive, black talon like foot squashing it like a insect.

His vision and hearing returning to normal he gazed up at the cause of the tank's destruction, to the welcoming sight of the colossal armoured monster which would strike new found fear in the enemy.

"Corp, you ok?!" Michelle's worried filled voice reached him whilst somebody else helped him off the floor.

"I'm alright. My sides are killing me though" Ben said wincing finding his whole squad surrounding him.

"Suck it up, Howard" Henrik's barked unsympathetically, passing by them with the rest of their regiment.

"Yes Sarge"

"Our miracles here Corp. They've deployed the Talos!" The unmistakable sound of delight was in Dan's tone at the heavy mobile siege platforms entry into the fight.

As if it needed to confirm its presence further the loud whooshing and multiple buzzing of anti personnel chainguns rattled ahead, taking out targets out of their line sight. The Separatist forces turned their full attention to the Talos, firing everything they had at the most powerful AFV of the UECAF. The machines blasted at the heavy armoured hide of the giant walker only to watch it all harmless bounce off.

" _Everyone, advance with the Talos. And for God sake don't get trampled on!_ " Pires commanded through the helmet comm.

Not needing to be told twice the new found confidence within himself and the others charged forward again. Ahead the Separatist armour was retreating backward, pointing their cannons upward to the Talos in a desperate struggle to stop the walker from reaching the main objective of the mission. In turn one of the Talos' big missile launcher arms twisted downward and unleashed a barrage on to the tanks, turning that patch of road into crater and a mess of metal, concrete and fire.

"Ha, the scum are in for it now" Natalie said in glee, swapping her L5 Sharpshooter over to a captured Separatist blaster rifle.

"Nice new toy you got there, Nat" Ben said shooting a thumper right into its chest position face.

"Packs quite a punch" She commented on the laser gun, proving it's effectiveness by clipping a skinny's arm then chest.

With the support of the Talos the offensive resumed, all thoughts of defeat and embarrassment no longer crossing his mind. One of its metallic legs crashed against the side of one tower block, only for the building to sustain damage and the Talos not so much as a scratch. The resulting debris from the collision rained down on the droids below, flattening any dumb enough to stay in that spot.

The Separatist still had the numbers but with the Talos distracting their aim they became easy targets again for his regiment. It wasn't until coming down the last road Ben saw the wide, arched building said to be the enemy HQ surrounded by robots of all types, tanks and what appeared to be legged anti tank guns concentrating most of their fire at the larger threat.

It was only from this Ben saw for the first time the Talos pause from the anti tank fire bombarding it non stop. Traversing its hulking body around to the larger concentration of enemy forces, the Corporal could only imagine had the the droids been an organic being fear would grip at their soul from the angry blue eyes of the heavy walker bearing its whole arsenal down at them with no thought of mercy.

" _Check out it out, there's another!_ " Somebody bellowed over the comm.

Searching round for what the soldier was on about Ben found another Talos approaching from the east with Widowmakers and more Prowlers in tow around it's clawed feet, taking point over its smaller friendly brethren.

"Good to see Dekker made it" Michelle said over the whistle of the missile barrage from their massive three legged saviour at the arrival of the 32nd Armoured Brigade.

"These bastards may as well give up now" Victor snorted firing a concussion grenade from his Rossmore at a group of skinnies standing by a roller.

The roller blasted away at him in return but luckily none of its shots hit him, sailing passed harmlessly hitting whatever construct was behind their cover. The shielded roller continued to aim for the Serb like it had it out for him personally. To his squad member's relief the droideka became the kill of a Widowmaker joining the assault on the headquarters. With the overkill of firepower on their side it wasn't long before the Separatists defence would fall.

" _Platoons three and two provide covering fire. One and four time with me. Head for the HQ_ "

"That's us" Ben waved his squad to the Captain's orders.

Running through the overwhelming litter of robots and burning husks of enemy armoured vehicles to the Separatist held centre, Ben followed suit after the troops of the 115th tasked with storming the arch shaped building. The job was made easier with the front section of the alien construct missing from intense fire and the smoke from the destroyed tanks inadvertently providing the attackers cover.

Ben on the other hand with his visor shattered and exposing his eye, didn't have the advantage of screen settings to enable him to spot the machines through the thick blackish/ white smoke. The shadowy figure shaped like a thumper came across his limited vision and taking the chance he fired first, earning the crashing of a heavy body hitting the floor.

"This way!" Pires commanded to his left.

Barely making out his superior's image he went in the direction the Captain was going, hearing the firefight going on through the battered hallways. Entering deeper into the Separatists main lair the smoke started to fade, offering better field of vision once again which immediately came in handy at the droids shooting from the windows.

Only one of the skinnies caught notice of their presence but wasn't active longer enough to repel their presence. A short accurate burst from Dan's Hailstorm made short work of the last droid forces left defending their HQ. They came eventually came across a hallway leading to a set of heavy steel doors guarded by a spider who wasted no time of what it thought of their sudden appearance.

"Move!" Pires yelled just as the first red laser bolt was fired from the bug eye machine.

Ignoring the protest from his injured ribs Ben dived against the wall with Victor and Dan. One soldier wasn't quick enough and was took the hit, flying straight to the cracked ground dead with a large burned hole burned through his Battle Suit's armour and stomach region.

"Shit. Anyone got any grenades left?" Pires asked everyone.

"No Sir"

"I'm out" They each answered.

"I've got one better, sir" Someone called out further down their tightly squeezed cover. Turning to the owner Ben found the soldier tapping onto a Wildfire MRL.

"Excellent, Konte. How many do you have left?" The Captain quizzed, ducking back into the doorway from another bolt zooming passed.

"Two"

"Good. Fire independently, shoot one at the spider and the other at the door. You guys draw its fire, keep it focused on you so Konte can get the shot in"

"Yes Captain" Ben nodded, leaning out slightly and fired at the spider.

This action was repeated by the rest on his side of the hallway, baiting the machine to fire back. Doing exactly that the small tubed cannon of the spider concentrated its fire on those laying down more bullets on itself, blasting into the wall leaving a huge scorched hole in its place. Konte stepped out from cover and placed the twinned missile launcher on his shoulder and fired off a single missile, blowing it to kingdom come upon contact.

"Now aim for the door" Pires instructed next.

The second HEV missile flew out the Wildfire at breathtaking speeds, pummeling into the doors so hard one of the semi circular doors flew back into the room they were protecting. With the would be guardian dealt with the final push came with them all charging straight to the room said to contain the Separatist command of the Byzral system.

Jumping over the bulbous body of the dead spider bot Ben was after Captain pires in being the first to find the room filled with all but one organic being. Standing around a holographic table stood a pair of thumpers and a bunch of skinnies with different paint jobs appearing to be panicking at their rude intrusion.

The Corporal took down one of the thumpers whilst the rest shot the skinnies, leaving only a brown skinned alien with spikes coming out from the side of its face and forehead who had his hands cuffed and one 'Tactical droid' they had been briefed on who they believed was leading the Separatist forces on this planet.

"Surrender robot" Pires pointed his Razor at the commanding robot.

" **Impossible. My programming is designed to withstand any interrogation technique you may try to inflict** " It stated then grabbed hold of the alien, pressing a laser pistol to the frightened beings head " **Order your forces to stand down, or I'll execute the Minis-** " Its words were cut off by a unexpected bullet hitting it right between the eyes.

Everyone turned to find who was responsible but Ben needn't, knowing only one person he knew who possessed that kind of precision aim.

"Stanovich!" Pires swung round to Natalie.

"He was going to kill the hostage" The young sniper defender her actions.

"Could've done with his memory core intact"

"Who are you people?" A new, shaky voice inquired.

Unsurprising the alien stood staring at them all, unsure what to make of people he had never met before and invaded his world.

"It's ok, we're the good guys. All will be explained in good time but right now we need to finish off and rid your world of Separatist Alliance forces" Pires told the visible shaken alien.

"Y-yes of course. Thank you. Are you of the Republic?"

"No, far from it. What can you tell us about their plans and troop positions?"

"They have lost many battle droids across Tipaka. Only the northern sector of the city remains in Separatists hands. They also mention too the factory district has been hit. Is this your doing?" The alien informed then questioned with shock and awe.

"Yes, it won't be long now before it is liberated" The Captain stated confidently.

"Thank you, thank you so much" He gave a small bow to Pires.

"Your welcome?"

"Iram Gi, Minister of Byzral" The alien introduced himself.

"Well Minister I'm Captain Pires of the 115th Assault Regiment of United Earth Commonwealth Army. Further introductions will have to wait until later"

"Of course, just please. Watch out for my people" The alien Minister pleaded.

"We are sir, we're not here as conquerors" Pires assured the planet's leader then focused back on them "Howard have your men sweep the rest of the building"

"Yes sir" Ben saluted then signalled his squad to move out, picking up the Captain give further orders to the other one one fivers.

"Can you believe that?" Michelle asked in a tone of disbelievement.

"Yeah, just spoke with an alien and the planet's leader at that" Dan shared her astonishment.

"Perhaps Stanovich you could've made a better impression"

"I saved his life, is there a better way?" Natalie shot back at Victor's mocking of her actions

"Come on guys the job isn't finished yet. We still got a lot of machines to get through and bragging rights against the 89th. So let's get moving" Ben declared to the closing victory of Byzral over the Separatist Alliance.

"Yes Corporal!"


End file.
